Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB812 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 812
5	5	To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation to award grants
6	6	for, and support research on, the development of makerspaces, and
7	7	for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	JANUARY28, 2025
10	10	Mr. D
11	11	AVIDSCOTTof Georgia (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. TAKANO,
12	12	Mr. J
13	13	OHNSONof Georgia, Mr. JACKSONof Illinois, Mr. CARSON, Mr.
14	14	F
15	15	OSTER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, and Mrs. FOUSHEE) introduced the following
16	16	bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-
17	17	nology
18	18	A BILL
19	19	To direct the Director of the National Science Foundation
20	20	to award grants for, and support research on, the devel-
21	21	opment of makerspaces, and for other purposes.
22	22	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
23	23	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
24	24	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
25	25	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Making Advances Ki-4
26	26	netic Education, Research, and Skills Act’’ or the ‘‘MAK-5
27	27	ERS Act’’. 6
28	28	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7
29	29	Congress finds the following: 8
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33	33	(1) Maker communities can be found in both 1
34	34	rural and urban communities throughout the Na-2
35	35	tion. 3
36	36	(2) Making has been shown to engage and mo-4
37	37	tivate children and adults in STEM disciplines. 5
38	38	(3) Informal education and makerspaces pro-6
39	39	mote skills that employers desire, such as technical 7
40	40	skills, problem-solving skills, teamwork, and analyt-8
41	41	ical skills. 9
42	42	(4) Studies have shown that underrepresented 10
43	43	populations often have better successes in informal 11
44	44	and out-of-school STEM than in formal STEM pro-12
45	45	grams. 13
46	46	(5) Some studies have shown that makerspaces 14
47	47	help to build not only technical hard skills but also 15
48	48	collaboration and other soft skills that employers de-16
49	49	sire. 17
50	50	SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 18
51	51	The purpose of this Act is to encourage the formation 19
52	52	and study of makerspaces to— 20
53	53	(1) engage populations within community col-21
54	54	leges and community environments in STEM pro-22
55	55	grams; 23
56	56	(2) develop desirable STEM technical and other 24
57	57	skills, including collaboration; and 25
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60	60	•HR 812 IH
61	61	(3) build a STEM-capable workforce. 1
62	62	SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 2
63	63	In this Act, the following definitions apply: 3
64	64	(1) H
65	65	ISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI -4
66	66	VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 5
67	67	university’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B 6
68	68	institution’’ under section 322 of the Higher Edu-7
69	69	cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 8
70	70	(2) M
71	71	AKERSPACE.—The term ‘‘makerspace’’ 9
72	72	means a community space that— 10
73	73	(A) provides access to tools, technology, 11
74	74	and knowledge for learners and entrepreneurs; 12
75	75	(B) results in the prototyping or creation 13
76	76	of physical goods, interdisciplinary learning, 14
77	77	and educational innovation; and 15
78	78	(C) supports the development of edu-16
79	79	cational opportunities for personal growth, 17
80	80	workforce training, and early stage business 18
81	81	ventures. 19
82	82	(3) M
83	83	INORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION .—The 20
84	84	term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an insti-21
85	85	tution listed in section 371(a) of the Higher Edu-22
86	86	cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 23
87	87	(4) R
88	88	URAL COMMUNITY .—The term ‘‘rural 24
89	89	community’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘rural 25
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92	92	•HR 812 IH
93	93	area’’ in section 520 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 1
94	94	U.S.C. 1490). 2
95	95	(5) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ means the 3
96	96	subjects of science, technology, engineering, and 4
97	97	mathematics. 5
98	98	(6) W
99	99	ORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMPO -6
100	100	NENT.—The term ‘‘workforce development compo-7
101	101	nent’’ means— 8
102	102	(A) an economic development board or cor-9
103	103	poration, including a State board or local work-10
104	104	force board; 11
105	105	(B) an internship program; 12
106	106	(C) a certificate program; 13
107	107	(D) employers or an employer or industry 14
108	108	partnership representing multiple employers; 15
109	109	(E) a community-based organization; or 16
110	110	(F) any other program considered accept-17
111	111	able by the Director of the National Science 18
112	112	Foundation. 19
113	113	SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM FOR RESEARCH AND CAPACITY 20
114	114	BUILDING OF MAKERSPACES. 21
115	115	(a) E
116	116	STABLISHMENT.—The Director of the National 22
117	117	Science Foundation shall award grants on a competitive 23
118	118	basis to institutions of higher education, or consortia of 24
119	119	such institutions, to support the research and development 25
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122	122	•HR 812 IH
123	123	of makerspaces to assist in the formation of a STEM-ca-1
124	124	pable workforce. 2
125	125	(b) U
126	126	SE OFFUNDS.—A grant awarded under this 3
127	127	section may be used for— 4
128	128	(1) research on the effectiveness of makerspaces 5
129	129	in engaging students and the community in STEM 6
130	130	skills and in teaching and learning, and the develop-7
131	131	ment, compilation, and dissemination of best prac-8
132	132	tices on the use of makerspaces for STEM learning 9
133	133	and workforce preparedness; 10
134	134	(2) equipment to achieve the purpose under 11
135	135	paragraph (1); and 12
136	136	(3) any other activities the Director considers 13
137	137	appropriate. 14
138	138	(c) P
139	139	RIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients under 15
140	140	this section, the Director shall give priority to applicants 16
141	141	that— 17
142	142	(1) apply in partnership with one or more enti-18
143	143	ties that are— 19
144	144	(A) a workforce development component; 20
145	145	(B) a high-need local education agency as 21
146	146	described in section 9(b)(3) of the National 22
147	147	Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 23
148	148	(42 U.S.C. 1862n(b)(3)); or 24
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152	152	(C) an independent nonprofit or academic 1
153	153	makerspace; 2
154	154	(2) consist of one or more entities that are— 3
155	155	(A) a community college; or 4
156	156	(B) a historically Black college or univer-5
157	157	sity or other minority-serving institution of 6
158	158	higher education; or 7
159	159	(3) apply in partnership with or consist of an 8
160	160	entity that is— 9
161	161	(A) described in paragraph (1) or (2); and 10
162	162	(B) operates within a rural community. 11
163	163	(d) L
164	164	IMITATION.—Funds provided through a grant 12
165	165	under this section may not be used for the construction 13
166	166	of a physical building or facility to hold a makerspace un-14
167	167	less the Director determines that such construction is nec-15
168	168	essary for reasons of safety or the use of relevant equip-16
169	169	ment. 17
170	170	(e) T
171	171	ECHNICALASSISTANCE.—The Director may 18
172	172	provide technical assistance to entities receiving a grant 19
173	173	or entities seeking such a grant under this section. 20
174	174	Æ
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