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What will Ohio’s future economy and workforce look like? Taxpayers should be asking in response to a White House proposal for devastating cuts to research funding. These include a proposed 37% cut for the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s preeminent sponsor of biomedical research; a 50% cut for the National Science Foundation, which funds basic research at universities and hospitals, and elimination of programs that provide grants to small businesses and startups.
The impact of these cuts will be felt statewide, from cancer research at Cleveland Clinic to crop-resilience initiatives at Ohio’s AgTech Innovation Hub. Proposed cuts will make it difficult for companies to find skilled workers while failing to nurture the young people who are Ohio’s future.
The impact of federal support on the state’s economy is profound and quantifiable: Thirty-five percent of Ohio’s labor force and 41% of its gross domestic product are tied to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM), where workers enjoy higher median incomes as compared to other fields.
STEMM activities contribute nearly $364 billion to Ohio’s economy, according to a recent report from “Science Is US.” Our hospitals are cutting-edge and our state is the nation’s third-largest chemical manufacturer, but these sectors require skilled workers. That training depends critically on federal investment in STEMM.
What federal grants purchase in Ohio: University faculty engage in teaching and research but also in recruiting. For example, the authors have managed a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported undergraduate research program that brings students from regional colleges to Ohio State University during the summer, where they learn to use state-of-the-art instrumentation that is unavailable at smaller institutions.These pipelines are threatened by proposed budget cuts and are unlikely to be replicated with university or state resources alone.
Federal research grants purchase equipment and supplies but primarily support human resources, including salaries for graduate student researchers. These students are Ohio’s future innovators and skilled workers, but they are also consumers who shop and pay rent, providing a direct conduit between federal research dollars and Ohio’s retailers and landlords.
Playing the long game: These short-term benefits are substantial but the long-term gains illustrate why sustained investment in STEMM is crucial.
Non-defense research and development spending yields an estimated 171% return in economic output, exceeding nearly every other form of public or private investment. That economic growth is why research funding has been called “self-financing.”
Reducing this investment is as ill-advised as failing to pay into a retirement account. One can save money now, but the harm comes years later from failure to realize compounding growth from today’s missed investment. Federal investment ensures that young people interested in STEMM can be supported just as vigorously as their predecessors were, enabling future innovations that we can hardly imagine — yet signs of underinvestment cannot be missed. This year, NSF cut its Ph.D. fellowship program by half and awarded the smallest number of fellowships in 15 years.
America’s continued scientific dominance is not assured. China has already overtaken the United States in scientific publications and patents, and has made impressive breakthroughs in key areas, including artificial intelligence. Our state’s future depends on as-yet undiscovered technologies.
How you can help: The budget for 2026 is not finalized, and the Senate’s proposal largely keeps research budgets intact. For decades, federal science funding has enjoyed bipartisan support. A recent study in the journal “Science” concluded that “…Republican lawmakers consistently provided robust funding, often exceeding Democrats, underscoring the importance of bipartisan investments in science and research.” We urge readers to contact their elected representatives and encourage them to pay it forward. A template to do so can be found here.
Herbert is Professor of Chemistry and Kohler is Ohio Eminent Scholar at Ohio State University. They write from Columbus.
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