WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) today joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Scott Brown (R-MA) in cosponsoring the Innovate America Act (S. 239).
“The Innovate America Act is exactly the kind of legislation I came to the Senate to support. Not only does it make important investments in promoting American competitiveness, it also saves us money by offsetting these investments with strategic budget cuts,” Senator Coons said.
This bill would authorize annually $50 million in funding to double the number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) focused high schools nationwide and $66 million for grants to colleges and universities that succeed in retaining STEM majors through graduation. It would also expand the basic research tax credit, provide a new credit for equipment donations to high schools and technical colleges, and require that 10% of federally funded undergraduate research opportunities be set aside for freshmen. It supports advanced manufacturing by providing the Office if the U.S. Trade Representative with an extra $2 million each year to enforce trade rules and by launching a manufacturing assistance program to help small and medium sized firms increase exports.
To offset this funding, the bill reduces printing costs by the Government Printing Office and eliminates bonuses to government contractors that fail to meet performance goals. As a result, the Innovate America Act has a net savings of $11 billion.
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