U.S. Federal Budget to Include Photonics Funding

12 December 2014—The office of U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., announced that the U.S. Congress has included the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act (RAMI) bill in the $1 trillion Omnibus Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2015. Emphasizing funding for optics and photonics, the bipartisan RAMI bill is a compromise that the U.S. House of Congress approved on 10 December and is anticipated to be approved by the Senate today. [Update: The final omnibus bill, including the RAMI provisions, passed the Senate on 13 December 2015.]

Reed worked with OSA to include photonics language into the bill. The RAMI bill specifies the creation of up to 15 regional Centers for Manufacturing Innovation operated via public-private partnerships to develop basic research into commercial products. The language of the RAMI bill includes optics and photonics as targets to consider for Manufacturing Centers. The bill is a follow-on effort derived from the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation initiative announced by President Obama in 2013.