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FY24 Appropriations Process Is Underway: President’s Budget Request is Released

Earlier this month, the FY2024 President’s Budget Request (PBR) was released outlining the administration’s priorities for the coming fiscal year. The overall request is self-described as a blueprint to build on the past two years to “grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out by investing in America, lowering costs for families, protecting and strengthening Medicare and Social Security, and reducing the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade”. 

The FY24 PBR included:   

  • $8,215 per Pell Grant award (an $820 increase over FY23)  
  • $21 billion in discretionary spending for CHIPS & Science-authorized activities including $1.2 billion for the Directorate of Technology Innovation and Partnerships (TIP)  
  • $48.26 billion for NIH (an increase of 1.7% over FY23)  
  • $2.5 billion for ARPA-H (a $1 billion increase over FY23)  
  • $27.2 billion for NASA (a 7.1% increase over FY23), and  
  • $11.3 billion for NSF (an 18.6% increase over FY23 enacted level of $9.5 billion)  

Now the House and Senate will review the request and vote on a Budget Resolution that decides on topline numbers for discretionary funding. Here is where things could get tricky as the new divided Congress will likely have trouble coming to an agreement. 

Check out a more complete list of programs and accounts on our updated appropriations tracker, including the FY24 budget request numbers, here. We will continue to add to this once more budget justifications are released and as the appropriations process continues.   

Senate Clears Reconciliation Package; House to Take It Up Friday

After a marathon series of votes on amendments over the weekend, the Senate cleared by a vote of 51-50 a version of the reconciliation budget package.  With all 50 Democrats supporting the measure and all 50 Republicans voting against it, Vice President Harris cast the tie-breaking vote.  Because the measure isa reconciliation bill, which provided it procedural protections, it could move forward in the Senate with a simple majority vote.

The House is currently scheduled to take it up on Friday.

We will provide further details about the bill  in the near future.

FY2023 NOAA Congressional Budget Justification Available

Yesterday, NOAA made available its Congressional justification document for its FY2023 budget request.  The document, available here, calls for:

  • A total of $774.8 million for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the research office within NOAA.
    • Within OAR, climate research programs would be funded at $256.6 million and climate cooperative institutes would be funded at $108.7 million.
    • The base Sea Grant program would receive $76.3 million and the Sea Grant Aquaculture program would receive $13.3 million.
  • Within the National Ocean Service, the IOOS Regional Observation Network would receive $40.5 million under the budget proposal.

 

FY2023 Biden Budget Request Package Released

As expected, the FY2023 budget request package from the Biden Administration was released on Monday. While it reflects the Administration’s wishes in many cases, Congress will have the final say.  The FY2022 process completed only a few weeks ago, after the agencies began compiling numbers for FY2023.  That means that some of the requests for FY2023 may actually be below the final FY2022 levels, and the Administration has acknowledged the need to adjust its thinking as the FY2023 appropriations process moves forward.

We are still in the process of reviewing the proposals from the various agencies of importance to UW, but we can share initial details, which are provided below.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The Administration is proposing a base budget of $45.3 billion for NIH, not including a request of $5 billion for ARPA-H.

While NIH-specific budget documents are not yet available, initial information is available through the budget documents of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), of which NIH is a part.  The budget brief for HHS is available here.

Department of Education

With its request, the Biden Administration seeks to increase the Pell Grant maximum award to $8,670 and is, once again, seeking to expand the program to include DACA recipients.

SEOG and the Federal Work Study programs would be funded at $880 million and $1.19 billion, respectively.  In addition, TRIO and GEARUP programs would be funded at $1.3 billion and $408 million, respectively.

The budget request proposes to fund the group of Title VI International Education programs at $78.2 million while GAANN would receive $23.5 million under the proposal.

The Institute of Education Sciences would be funded at $662.5 million under the current budget proposal.

As part of its request for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), the Education Department is seeking to create a new $450-million research infrastructure program at minority-serving institutions.

Additional information about the ED budget request can be found here.

National Science Foundation

For FY2023, the Administration has proposed a total of $10.5 billion for the NSF.

Within the NSF budget, the Research and Related Activities account would be funded at $8.425 billion.  The agency proposes to rename the Education and Human Resources account to “STEM Education” and would fund it at $1.377 billion.  The Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction account would be funded at $187.2 million under this budget.

The agency recently launched the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships Directorate and proposes to fund it at $880 million in FY2023.

The NSF budget document is available here.

Department of Energy

Meanwhile, for DOE, the Administration is seeking a total of $48.2 billion, including $7.8 billion for the Office of Science and $4.0 billion for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 

Fusion would be funded at $723.2 million and Biological and Environmental Research would be funded at $903.7 million.

The budget request also includes $700 million for ARPA-E .

Additional information about the DOE budget is available here.

NOAA

The Administration is calling for $6.88 billion for NOAA next year.  While the agency details are not yet available, NOOA released this yesterday.

NASA

In FY2023, the Administration is seeking $26 billion for NASA, with $7.98 billion being proposed for the Science Mission Directorate (SMD).  Within SMD, $2.41 billion is slated for Earth Science, including new funding for wildfire initiatives and a new Earth Information Center.  The budget request also includes $1.44 billion for Space Technology.

As part of the Office of STEM Engagement request, the budget proposal is seeking $57 million for the Space Grant program.

NASA budget documents are available here.

Department of Defense

The Pentagon budget request for next year totals approximately $773 billion, including $130 billion for Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation, which is the portion of the agency’s budget that funds research programs.  For basic research (“6.1” research), the DOD is seeking $2.4 billion, which would be essentially flat funding the portfolio.

The research budget, or the “R-1”, is available here.

USGS

Within the larger Department of Interior budget, the Administration is seeking $1.78 billion for the USGS.

The request includes $85.7 million for the Climate Adaptation Science Centers, $28.2 million for the Cooperative Research Units, and $99.9 million for Earthquake Hazards.

A brief overview of the USGS budget proposal is available here.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The EPA’s total budget request of $11.9 billion includes $864.2 million for the Science and Technology account.  Additional details are available here.

Additional Information

We will continue to provide additional details.  Again, the budget request from the Administration represents only the beginning of the appropriations process.  We most likely will not see a resolution until the beginning of next calendar year, well into the next fiscal year.

House Passes Omnibus, FY22 Chart Now Available

Yesterday the House passed an omnibus appropriations package for FY22, following negotiations between House and Senate appropriators. The final package includes modest increases for key scientific and higher education accounts. The Senate is expected to vote on the package quickly to send it to the President’s desk. Current government funding is set to expire on Friday, so another short continuing resolution will be necessary to allow the Senate to clear procedural steps.

A chart tracking key accounts relevant to UW is available here. Our office will post detailed updates as information becomes available. We will also discuss appropriations in more detail during our town hall on March 24th at noon PT (register here).