Sponsors (6)
Official title: To reauthorize the National Quantum Initiative Act, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 23, 2026 by Randy Weber · Last progress April 23, 2026
The bill aims to accelerate U.S. quantum leadership by boosting workforce development, R&D centers, infrastructure, and interagency coordination and by tightening security and international engagement — but it increases federal spending, shifts emphasis toward commercialization (risking basic research), and adds collaboration and compliance limits that may disadvantage smaller institutions and some researchers.
Students, trainees, and researchers nationwide gain expanded education, training, internships, fellowships, curricula, outreach, and diversity programs that substantially grow the domestic quantum STEM workforce and broaden participation.
Researchers, tech workers, and U.S. firms get sustained R&D and commercialization support — including competitive centers, testbeds, foundries, cloud resources, and program funding — that accelerates quantum technology maturation and startup/job creation.
Federal coordination and new leadership structures (Office, Advisory Committee, interagency subcommittees) provide clearer policy direction, reduce duplicative efforts, and improve strategic planning and oversight for civilian and defense-related quantum work.
Taxpayers may face substantially higher federal spending to fund expanded centers, testbeds, fellowships, foundries, DOE/NIST/NSF programs, and interagency coordination without specified offsets.
Researchers, students, and basic science could be displaced as the bill shifts emphasis toward engineering, near-term demonstrations, and commercialization, risking fewer long‑term fundamental discoveries.
Security-driven restrictions (e.g., prohibitions related to Confucius Institute ties, 'foreign entity' definitions, disclosure rules) and tighter collaboration rules may limit international partnerships, constrain individual researchers (including foreign-born talent), and chill open science.
Based on analysis of 24 sections of legislative text.
Reauthorizes and expands the National Quantum Initiative through Dec 30, 2032; adds centers, DOE foundry/instrumentation, workforce hubs, research-security rules, and an international cooperation strategy.
Reauthorizes and expands the National Quantum Initiative by setting a fixed sunset date of December 30, 2032, broadening statutory scope from "quantum information science" to "quantum information science, engineering, and technology," and adding new programs, centers, workforce and education authorities, DOE foundry and instrumentation programs, research security requirements, and an international cooperation strategy. The bill creates competitive NIST "quantum acceleration centers," an NSF-coordinated national workforce hub, new DOE RD&D and foundry authority, and expanded interagency coordination, reporting, and definitions to accelerate commercialization, strengthen supply chains, and protect research from foreign malign influence.