BANGOR, Maine (AP) A bipartisan group of senators wants the federal government to use almost $25 billion to support researchers who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The proposal is designed to help researchers who have suffered financial hardships and other difficulties because of the pandemic, supporters of the proposal said. The act was proposed by Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Democratic Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan.

The senators called the proposal the Research Investment to Spark the Economy Act, or the RISE Act. Collins said the proposal “would provide critical funding to the research communities in Maine and throughout the country” in a time when research advances have been made difficult by the pandemic.

“Diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s, with their devastating human and financial costs, are powerful examples of the urgent need to keep our momentum in research funding going,” Collins said.