New House Speaker has mixed record on science
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.1056
Newly elected Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) brings a record of leading a bipartisan budget effort that provided relief from spending cuts at the science agencies. However, he has also proposed multiple federal budgets that would have cut discretionary spending, from which R&D is funded. In some cases, he has opposed federal support for science facilities and areas of research he believes are wasteful, at risk of mismanagement, or not government’s proper role.
After weeks of confusion and debate on the future of the House of Representatives following former speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) surprise announcement at the end of September that he would resign, the chamber resolved any lingering chaos by electing Representative Paul Ryan as their new speaker. The choice, which was unanticipated only a few weeks earlier, vaults a well-known politician and national leader to the head of the “people’s chamber” and to second in the line of succession to the presidency.
Ryan is best known for serving as the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee in 2012 alongside former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. As the chair of the House Budget Committee for years, Ryan was the architect of the Republican Party’s alternate proposals to the president’s budget request in 2008 through 2012 and the primary Republican sponsor of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013
Ryan has taken stands out of step with the scientific community
Although Ryan said little about scientific research during his bid for the speakership or in the short time since his election, a politician’s past record is usually the best indicator of his or her future positions, and Ryan’s record on science has been mixed. In some cases he has opposed funding for major projects of importance to the physical sciences community.
In June of this year, Ryan voted for the House’s controversial version of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015,
In the summer of 2000, Ryan took an active stance against the establishment of the National Ignition Facility (NIF)
Ryan has also frequently stated his opposition to investing federal dollars in applied energy research, especially to promote specific energy technologies such as renewables. He has said that it is not the government’s role to “pick winners and losers” in the energy marketplace. In a 2012 television interview, he decried “spending money on favorites . . . like Solyndra or Fisker,” in a reference to two renewable energy startup companies the federal government subsidized before they went bankrupt.
Through his budget blueprints, Ryan has articulated support for government funding of basic research. It is not clear, however, whether his budget plans in practice would have led to such support. The 2012 Republican budget proposal
Ryan’s plan for reauthorization of education bill and STEM title unclear
What plans Ryan has for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
As then chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, former speaker Boehner sponsored and shepherded the 2002 ESEA law, also known as No Child Left Behind, through the House. The law, signed by President George W. Bush, is seen as a landmark in increasing the federal role for public K–12 education, especially in creating uniform standards and accountability measures for gauging the improvement of K–12 school performance. Many leaders and education policy experts, however, have come to view the No Child Left Behind law as deeply flawed and ineffective, and 43 states and the District of Columbia have received federal waivers
Given his personal investment in the law, Boehner was expected to help rally the House to pass a new reauthorization of the ESEA. Ryan may not be the champion of ESEA that Boehner was, but he did support the version of the bill that the House passed in July. He has also expressed disapproval over the liberal use of the Education Department waivers of the legislative requirements of the current version of ESEA; that disapproval suggests he may prefer an alternative framework over the status quo. It may also bode well for supporters of ESEA reauthorization that Ryan already has a good working relationship with Rep. John Kline (R-MN), chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee and lead sponsor of the bill.
A possible decision by Ryan to advance ESEA reauthorization legislation is no guarantee that the final version of the bill will include the STEM title that is in the Senate-passed version. A letter
Ryan acknowledges House needs fixing, strikes bipartisan note in acceptance speech
On 29 October, with 236 votes, significantly more than the majority necessary to elect him, newly minted House speaker Ryan struck a bipartisan note in his acceptance speech
“If you ever pray, let’s pray for each other—Republicans for Democrats, Democrats for Republicans. . . . Pray for a deeper understanding, because—when you’re up here, you see it so clearly—wherever you come from, whatever you believe, we are all in the same boat.”
Ryan indicated he would be instituting new reforms, including a “return to regular order,” meaning he will try to move spending bills on time using the standard model of the annual congressional budget process. He also said the committees need to lead in the drafting of all major legislation in the House, and he called on members to open up the lawmaking process and “let people participate.” Ryan continued,
“Let’s be frank: The House is broken. We are not solving problems. We are adding to them. And I am not interested in laying blame. We are not settling scores. We are wiping the slate clean.”
Originally published at FYI: The AIP Bulletin of Science Policy News