Today the Congressional Research Service released a report detailing some of the effects of COVID-19 on the federal research enterprise. The full report is available here. The report notes social distancing, supply shortages, and disruption to academic staff have had a detrimental impact on federally-funded research. The report also describes efforts within the academic community to maintain continuity.
The White House Office of Management and Budget yesterday issued guidance (M-20-20) that enables federal agencies to to “repurpose their federal assistance awards (in whole or part) to support the COVID-19 response, as consistent with applicable laws.”
The memo states, in part, the following:
As an example of this flexibility, agencies may allow recipients to donate medical equipment (including, but not limited to, personal protective equipment, medical devices, medicines, and other medical supplies) purchased with Federal assistance funds to hospitals, medical centers, and other local entities serving the public for COVID-19 response. This class exception also extends to the donation of other resources (such as labor, supplies, and contract services) funded under Federal financial assistance to support COVID-19 emergency response activities.
In a letter sent earlier today, higher education associations asked the State Department for further guidance and assistance on the hurdles faced by international students, faculty, and staff at colleges and universities across the nation.
While acknowledging clarity and needed guidance that provided in some areas, the letter also highlights the fact a number of other problems still remain. Read the letter here.
On top of the proposals aimed at direct institutional and student needs as well as needs in the research arena, the higher education community has also pulled together a set of tax proposals that seeks to address additional challenges.
One of the top priorities in the package is the request that public entities, including public universities, become eligible to take advantage of the tax credits available to employers that provide paid sick and emergency family and medical leave for employees who are facing COVID-19-related issues. “Phase 2” required all public employers as well as private employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide paid sick and emergency family and medical leave. At the same time, the bill created tax credits for the same set of private sector employers but explicitly prohibited public employers from being eligible for the credits.
As the push for a “Phase 4” coronavirus bill gains steam, the higher education community has come up with a set of requests for the still-developing package, some of which would augment provisions in “Phase 3” while others would create new sources of funding.
The broader higher education community is jointly advocating for this proposal, which would add approximately $47 billion to the Higher Education Fund that was created in the $2.2-trillion CARES Act. The request is based on a set of assumptions that the community made in order to craft a timely proposal.
The research university community is making another push for research funding in a Phase 4 package. In an effort to address a portion of the problems being caused by the pandemic, the group proposal calls for, among other items, $26 billion in the next legislative package to address the various needs in the research enterprise.