RESEARCHER Act
- Bill Number
- H.R. 3054
- Origin Chamber
- House
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 1
- Policy Area
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2025-04-29: Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
- Last Updated
- 2026-06-09T08:05:54Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose
The RESEARCHER Act (H.R. 3054) seeks to tackle financial challenges faced by graduate researchers (students pursuing advanced degrees who conduct funded research) and postdoctoral researchers (recent doctoral graduates in training positions conducting funded research) at U.S. colleges and universities. It requires federal agencies to create uniform guidelines to improve support, such as higher stipends and better access to essentials like healthcare and housing, to boost U.S. research competitiveness and resilience in higher education.
Key Provisions
- Definitions: Clarifies key terms, including "institution of higher education" (colleges or universities eligible for federal aid under existing law), "graduate researchers" (advanced degree students paid to do research at federally funded schools), and "postdoctoral researchers" (post-PhD trainees paid for research at such schools).
- Development of Guidelines: Within 6 months of enactment, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) must create consistent policy guidelines for federal research agencies. These are developed in consultation with groups like the National Science and Technology Council, STEM education committees, advisory boards, universities, researcher organizations, and other experts. Guidelines must address:
- Raising stipends, including adjustments based on location costs.
- Extra stipends for postdocs in rural, underserved areas, or states qualifying for certain National Science Foundation (NSF) programs to aid recruitment and retention.
- Improving access to affordable medical, dental, and vision care.
- Enhancing access to affordable housing and transportation.
- Reducing food insecurity (lack of reliable access to nutritious food).
- Covering family care costs, such as child care.
- Implementation and Monitoring: OSTP encourages and tracks agency adoption. Each federal research agency head must create and apply matching policies within 6 months of receiving the guidelines and share them widely with funding recipients. OSTP updates guidelines as needed and submits reports to congressional committees (e.g., Science, Space, and Technology; Education and the Workforce) on the guidelines and agency progress—one year after development, then every 5 years.
- Data Collection Enhancements:
- Amends the 2022 Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to require federal tracking of stipend amounts and financial instability for these researchers, broken down by demographics (e.g., race, gender) where possible.
- NSF must competitively award grants to universities or nonprofits to gather and analyze data on researcher financial instability, also disaggregated by demographics.
- Studies and Assessments:
- NSF commissions the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study financial instability over the past 5 years (e.g., comparing stipends to local costs for healthcare, housing, food, and child care), disaggregated by demographics. A report with recommendations for agencies, Congress, universities, and others is due within 2 years of the agreement.
- The Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducts a study within 3 years on agency implementation of guidelines, their effectiveness, and suggestions for improvements, including better data needs.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Modifies the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (part of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act) by expanding federal data requirements to include stipend levels and financial instability metrics for graduate and postdoctoral researchers, with demographic breakdowns. This builds on existing NSF reporting rules by adding these specifics before mentions of budgets or other data.
- Introduces new mandates for OSTP-led guidelines, agency policy adoption, NSF-funded data projects, and independent studies by the National Academies and GAO—none of which existed before—without altering core funding structures.
Potential Impacts
- Government Agencies: Increases coordination and reporting duties for OSTP, NSF, and other research agencies (e.g., National Institutes of Health), potentially raising administrative costs but standardizing support to retain talent and strengthen federal research investments. NSF gains new grant-making responsibilities.
- Citizens: Directly benefits graduate and postdoctoral researchers (often early-career scientists) by potentially raising pay and addressing living costs, reducing financial stress, food insecurity, and barriers to family care. This could improve equity, especially for underrepresented groups via demographic tracking, and indirectly support broader innovation in fields like science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
- International Relations: May enhance U.S. global competitiveness in research by making positions more attractive to domestic and international talent, helping retain skilled workers amid competition from other countries, though no direct foreign policy changes.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Primary Beneficiaries: Graduate and postdoctoral researchers at federally funded universities, particularly those in high-cost or underserved areas.
- Institutions and Organizations: Colleges and universities receiving federal research grants; researcher advocacy groups; nonprofits involved in data collection.
- Government Entities: OSTP, NSF, other federal research agencies; congressional committees overseeing science, education, and commerce; National Academies and GAO for studies.
- Broader Groups: STEM education committees, advisory councils, and states eligible for NSF's Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (which funds science in less research-intensive areas).
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Legal: Establishes enforceable timelines for guidelines, implementation, and reporting, with competitive grant processes ensuring fairness. Relies on existing authorities (e.g., OSTP's coordination role) without creating new entitlements or mandates on private entities; demographic data collection aligns with federal equity goals but requires privacy protections under laws like the Privacy Act.
- Constitutional: No apparent challenges—falls under Congress's spending power (Article I, Section 8) to direct federal funds and agencies, promoting general welfare through research support.
- Political: Promotes bipartisan priorities like STEM workforce development and economic competitiveness; emphasizes equity via demographic disaggregation, potentially appealing to diverse constituencies. As an introduced bill (not yet law), it signals congressional focus on researcher well-being amid rising education costs, without partisan overhauls to funding levels.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Rep. McClellan, Jennifer L. [D-VA-4]
Cosponsors (20)
Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1], Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12], Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1], Rep. Lee, Summer L. [D-PA-12], Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2], Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13], Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1], Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20], Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large], Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick, Sheila [D-FL-20], Rep. Frost, Maxwell [D-FL-10], Rep. Foster, Bill [D-IL-11], Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9], Rep. Riley, Josh [D-NY-19], Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2], Rep. Friedman, Laura [D-CA-30], Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3], Rep. Latimer, George [D-NY-16], Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9], Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7]
Recent Actions
- 2025-04-29: Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
- 2025-04-29: Introduced in House
- 2025-04-29: Introduced in House
Bill Versions
- Relieving Economic Strain to Enhance American Resilience and Competitiveness in Higher Education and Research Act — issued 2025-04-29 — PDF (10 pages)