On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Justice-Science approved its FY11 draft bill, which would provide $60.5 billion in discretionary spending. The draft measure would provide $3.9 billion (6 percent) less than 2010 levels, mostly because of the significant increase provided last year to perform the census, and just $2.7 million less than President Obama requested. House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) has said that discretionary spending in all of this year’s House appropriations bills, except for Homeland Security, will fall below the president’s request. The draft bill would, however, provide a healthy boost for most of the agencies and programs under the Commerce Department, including $5.5 billion in discretionary funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) representing a 17 percent increase above FY10 levels. The bill funds the Administration’s request for $26.4 billion for science programs, including $7.4 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Two additional markups are scheduled for today in the House: Agriculture and State-Foreign Operations.