by In light of the fact that the Trump administration has decreased funding to numerous universities and colleges in the state, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healeyon announced on Thursday that she will allocate $400 million to promote research programs at these institutions.
The funds, which need state Legislature approval, would be used to create and preserve research and development positions. Particularly in the Boston region, universities and teaching hospitals that have supported decades of biomedical and technological advancements are essential components of the city’s identity and economy.
The governor’s office referenced a study conducted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Donahue Institute, which revealed that over 81,000 employment in the state were supported by federal research money. According to the governor’s office, one out of ten research and development jobs in the nation are located in Massachusetts.
As part of what it claims is an antisemitic campaign, the Trump administration has attempted to revoke billions of dollars in research funding from universities in the state and around the nation, including Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In an effort to address what it perceives to be a conservative-hostile higher education system, the White House has also attempted to withhold federal funding.
While several other universities have joined lawsuits initiated by different groups or made agreements with the administration that would free up the funds, Harvard has retaliated against budget cuts in court, with a decision now pending.
Harvard has indicated that it might be willing to invest up to $500 million in connection with a transaction, but the university has not discussed its talks with the White House in public. However, the university is also wary of any deal that would let the government keep an eye on its activities, which some believe would jeopardize its autonomy.
Nine well-known Harvard faculty members cautioned university administrators in a letter on Thursday about clauses that might jeopardize academic freedom. They also stated that the university must refrain from allowing the government to have any say in hiring decisions and refrain from agreeing to give any outside agencies access to information about applicants, faculty, staff, or students.
In a statement announcing the plan, Healey, a Democrat, referred to the circumstances that led to it but did not specifically identify Harvard. “This is about protecting one of the things that makes Massachusetts so special in the face of uncertainty from the federal government,” she said, adding that the state was a global leader in innovative research and the discovery of life-saving cures.
Healey later stated during a press conference on Thursday afternoon that the proposed legislation goes beyond simply addressing the gaps caused by federal cuts. However, she also admitted that the state’s research sector has suffered as a result of the Trump administration’s activities, making it more susceptible to foreign competition.
Healey’s plan called for $200 million to be used specifically to assist research initiatives at independent research organizations, hospitals, and universities. The costs of research, collaborations, and joint ventures at public universities would be partially covered by an additional $200 million.
The proposed funding would come from the state’s rainy day emergency fund and money collected by the state’s so-called millionaires tax, which hiked personal income taxes for individuals by more than $1 million to support public transportation and education.
Since voters may have supported the tax with K–12 education in mind, Massachusetts Republicans opposed to the use of those monies for university research, according to Amy Carnevale, head of the Massachusetts Republican Party. She added that the state’s rainy-day funds could be used more effectively.
Citing the public defenders’ work stoppage that has slowed down the state’s court systems, she stated that there are undoubtedly more urgent requirements in Massachusetts right now.
Even while he does not anticipate it to offset the magnitude of the federal cuts, Lane Glenn, president of Northern Essex Community College, a public institution in Haverhill, Massachusetts, called the governor’s plan a “strong investment” in an interview.
Individual states cannot make up for that, according to Glenn. The governor is therefore exercising strategic judgment by allocating funds where they are most needed in Massachusetts and where they are likely to have a significant impact on the communities that are impacted by the state’s research institutions.
The cash would be particularly beneficial to the state’s public university system, according to Eve Weinbaum, a sociology and labor studies professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and vice president of the Massachusetts Society of Professors, the union that represents the teachers at the institution.
According to Weinbaum, public universities lack the kind of endowment that Harvard University possesses. There isn’t any backup funding to keep labs operating, employees working, or crucial research ongoing. Therefore, the governor’s proposal to at least create this emergency fund to help us get through this difficult period is a huge comfort.
The New York Times was the first publication of this article.
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