Sponsors (6)
Introduced February 13, 2025 by Richard Joseph Durbin · Last progress February 13, 2025
The bill channels sustained federal funding, infrastructure access, workforce training, and interagency support to accelerate U.S. quantum research, commercialization, and national‑security capabilities — but does so at appreciable taxpayer cost and with a risk of concentrating benefits among large institutions and commercial partners while deprioritizing some basic and international scientific collaborations.
Researchers, tech workers, and students get sustained, multi‑year federal funding and a DOE strategic plan for quantum centers, testbeds, and programs, providing predictable support for R&D and program continuity.
University labs, industry partners, and startups gain expanded access to DOE-run centers, testbeds, specialized equipment, and cloud-based prototype devices, accelerating experiments, collaboration, and commercialization pathways.
Students and workers — including underrepresented groups — receive more training, traineeships, user programs, and workforce development tied to DOE investments, strengthening the quantum talent pipeline and upskilling the existing workforce.
Taxpayers face substantially increased federal spending commitments across multiple accounts (center grants, equipment, user programs, and authorizations), which could divert funds from other priorities or increase budgetary pressure.
Concentrating resources (large grants, testbeds, national lab infrastructure, and cloud access) in select institutions and major providers risks centralizing capabilities and advantages with well‑resourced labs and companies, disadvantaging smaller universities, regional labs, and independent innovators.
A policy and funding emphasis on applied, commercialization‑oriented R&D and demonstrations may crowd out or deprioritize basic, curiosity‑driven research that underpins long‑term breakthroughs.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Expands DOE quantum research, creates an instrumentation/foundry program, raises center funding, broadens network and user programs, and authorizes new multi‑year funding.
Directs the Department of Energy to expand and modernize its quantum information science programs to accelerate U.S. research, commercialization, workforce training, and domestic supply chains. It broadens the DOE’s research and demonstration authorities, creates a new Quantum Instrumentation and Foundry Program with limited annual funding, raises funding caps for DOE quantum research centers, expands quantum network and user programs to include multiple modalities and cloud/software, and adds agency and industry coordination requirements.