Will We See More Appropriations and Senate “COVID 4.0” This Week?

Posted on July 27, 2020

After adopting a four-bill spending package for FY2021 last week, the House is currently scheduled to take up an even larger seven-bill “minibus” later this week, H.R. 7617.The legislation combines the FY2021 Defense, Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy and Water Development, Labor-HHS-Education, Financial Services-General Government, Homeland Security, and Transportation-HUD measures. As we noted last week, the Senate has yet to move on even a single spending bill.

Meanwhile, over the on the Senate side of the Capitol, we may finally see this week a set of proposals that represents the Senate Republican wish list for a “COVID 4.0” relief package. The Senate Republican leadership had hoped to unveil something last week but could not work out differences among themselves and with the White House. The goal is to unveil a proposal this week so that they can start negotiating with the Democratic House, which passed the the HEROES Act in May as its marker for negotiations. There is pressure to act as quickly as possible as a number of benefits from the CARES Act are scheduled to expire very soon, including expanded unemployment benefits.

Spending Bills Move to the House Floor

Posted on July 21, 2020

After a flurry of activities in subcommittee and full committee the last two weeks, the vast majority of FY2021 spending bills is scheduled to move to the House floor this week and next for consideration by the full chamber. Rather than considering them individually, the bills will be grouped into two different “minibus” legislative packages.

The first grouping of bills, H.R 7608, is made up of four pieces of legislation and it is slated for consideration later this week: State-Foreign Operations; Agriculture; Interior; and, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs. A summary of the package, prepared by the House Democratic staff, is available here.

The second batch, H.R. 7617, is currently scheduled for floor action next week. This second minibus pulls together seven of the eight remaining spending measures: Defense; Commerce-Justice-Science; Energy and Water; Financial Services; Homeland Security; Labor-HHS-Education; and, Transportation-Housing. A summary of the different parts of the large bill is available here.

Should these packages pass, only the Legislative Branch would remain unapproved in the House by the end of next week.

CJS and Defense Up Next

Posted on July 13, 2020

The House Appropriations Committee just completed its markup of the Labor-HHS and Energy and Water Development bills. It is scheduled to take up tomorrow the FY2021 Commerce-Justice-Science and Defense bills.

NSF

Within the CJS bill, NSF would be funded at $8.55 billion, an increase of $270.0 million

The Research and Related Activities would receive $6.97 billion, an increase of $229.9 million above the current level. The Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction account would be flat funded at $243.2 million. The Education and Human Resources account would see an increase of $30 million and would be funded at $970.0 million.

The report highlights a number of topics of special emphasis for and interest to Congress. These include, for example:

Artificial intelligence (AI).—The Committee believes it is important to maintain leadership in artificial intelligence and commends NSF for its significant investments in this area. The Committee recognizes the potential of artificial intelligence to transform the economy, foster economic growth, support national security, and enhance well-being.

To continue the progress in this emerging field, the Committee recommends no less than the fiscal year 2020 levels to support AI related grants and interdisciplinary research initiatives. The committee encourages NSF to continue its efforts in workforce development for AI and other emerging technologies, with focused outreach to community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Minority Serving Institutions.

The Committee urges NSF to invest in the ethical and safe development of AI. Within 90 days of enactment of this Act, NSF shall provide the Committee with a report on its efforts to prioritize investments in AI research. In addition, the Committee encourages NSF to report to the Committee on any cooperative projects on Artificial Intelligence between United States entities and international partners.

Quantum initiative.—The Committee supports NSF’s research program in quantum information science and technology in support of the authorized activities included in section 401 and section 402 of the National Quantum Initiative Act (Public Law 115 368). This emerging field of science promises to yield revolutionary new approaches to computing, sensing, and communication. NSF should remain committed to developing and supporting systems that facilitate tremendous leaps in computational simulation, including artificial intelligence, storage, quantum computing, and data analyses that enable a broad range of scientific research. Leading edge highperformance computing infrastructure is vital for continued U.S. world leadership and international scientific competitiveness, particularly given computational investments and technical achievements in high-performance computing by other nations. The recommendation provides no less than the fiscal year 2020 level for these activities.

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs).—The Committee supports the work of the Oceans and Human Health program to better understand the public health risk of environmental exposures and encourages NSF to continue to support research into the human health impacts of HABs in marine coastal regions, the Great Lakes Basin, and other freshwater systems. HABs jeopardize the integrity of drinking water resources in these regions. The recommendation provides no less than the fiscal year 2020 level for HAB research activities.

Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs).—The Committee notes that among the minority-serving institutions with whom NSF provides grant opportunities, AANAPISIs are not designated. The Committee urges NSF to increase grant funding opportunities for AANAPISIs, and to reach out to these institutions to raise awareness regarding these grants.

Broadening participation programs.—To broaden the participation of underrepresented populations in STEM education programs and, ultimately, the STEM workforce, the recommendation provides no less than $51,000,000 for the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation; no less than $70,000,000 for the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program; no less than $75,000,000 for the Advanced Technological Education Program; and no less than $18,000,000 for the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program.

Computer Science for All (CSforAll).—CSforAll will help facilitate research into effective approaches to the teaching and learning of computer science across grades Pre-K 12; it is critical to NSF’s mission and to ensure America’s children are prepared for a 21st century economy. The Committee supports this new program and is encouraged by its promise.

NOAA

The bill would fund the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) at NOAA at $584.4 million, an increase of $36 million above the current level.

Within OAR, the Climate Research program would be funded at $190.0 million, which includes $78 million for Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes and $69 million for Climate Competitive Research.

The OAR account in this bill would also increase by $4 million for the Sea Grant program, bringing the total to $71 million.

The Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), funded through the National Ocean Service at NOAA, would be funded at $40.5 million.

NASA

The agency as a whole would be flat funded at $22.6 billion in this bill. The Science Directorate programs would receive a total of $7.1 billion. The Space Technology Directorate would see $1.1 billion while Aeronautics would receive $819 million. As part of the STEM Engagement Office, the Space Grant program would see an increase of $2 million and would be funded at $50 million.

The Science Directorate would break down, in part, in the following manner:

Earth Science: $2.0 billion
Planetary Science: $2.7 billion
Astrophysics: $1.3 billion
Webb Telescope: $423 million
Heliophysicis: $633 million

The bill would fund the WFIRST project at the community-requested level of $505.2 million.

House Appropriations Process Marches On

Posted on July 13, 2020

The FY2021 appropriations process continues to march on in the House, for now, with two more bills slated for committee action today. This afternoon, the Appropriations Committee is scheduled to take up the Labor-HHS-Education and Energy and Water Development bills.

Labor-HHS-Education

As part of the overall level of $47 billion for NIH, the Labor-HHS-Education bill would fund:

HIV/AIDS Research at $3.1 billion
Alzheimer’s research at $2.9 billion

In addition, AHRQ would be funded at $343 million

Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) Title VII health professions and Title VIII nursing programs would be funded at $512.5 million and $270.0 million, respectively.

The Labor-HHS report also includes the following language with respect to the reporting of foreign gifts that meet certain criteria:

Disclosure of Foreign Gifts and Contracts.—The Committee reminds colleges and universities receiving Federal funds that section 117 of the HEA requires institutions to disclose certain gifts from or contracts with foreign entities and that the Department makes such information publicly available on its website. The Committee directs the Department to work with institutions to improve the reporting process. Disclosure requirements increase transparency and help protect our national security and academic integrity.

In addition to the funding levels for the programs we reported on last week, the House bill would also fund Title VI International Education programs at $80.3 million (an increase of $4.2 million), GAANN at $24.0 million (an increase of $1 million), and the Institute of Education Sciences at $630.5 million (an increase of $7 million).

Energy and Water

The Energy and Water Development bill under consideration today calls for $2.85 billion for the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EER&E) programs, an increase of $58 million. Within EER&E, renewable energy programs would see a cut of $4 million and would be supported at $638 million.

The bill calls for ARPA-E to be funded at $1.02 billion, which represents an increase of $35 million.

The Office of Science would see $7.05 billion under this bill, an increase of $50 million. Following programs within Science would be funded in the following manner:

Advanced Scientific Computing– $1.02 billion (+$35 million)
Basic Energy Sciences– $2.24 billion (+$29 million)
Biological and Environmental Research– $760 million (+$10 million)
Fusion– $680 million (+$9 million)
High Energy Physics– $1.08 billion (+$5 million)
Nuclear Physics– $715 million (+$2 million)

FY2021 Appropriations Bills Finally Moving

Posted on July 8, 2020

With schedules and logistics thrown into complete disarray by COVID-19, progress on the FY2021 spending bills had been stalled. The logjam has been partially broken, at least for now, in the House, with all 12 bills scheduled for markup this week.

Office of Federal Relations will provide additional details as they become available. The following are some of the highlights of several different bills so far:

Labor-HHS-Education

National Institutes of Health

$47 billion total, an increase of $5.5 billion above current level ($5 billion of the increase is emergency appropriations, meaning the regular appropriation for the agency is $42 billion)

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

$343 million, an increase of $500 million

Student Aid

Pell Grant Maximum: $6,945, an increase of $150
SEOG: $880 M ($15-million increase)
Federal Work Study: $1.2 billion ($30-million increase)
GEAR UP: $1.1 billion (an increase of $5 million)

The legislation would also prohibit the Department of Education from implementing its new Title IX regulations.

The text of the bill is available here and a summary of the bill prepared by the committee staff is available here. The report accompanying the bill, which contains most of the detailed breakdown of funding, is not yet available.

Commerce-Justice-Science

National Science Foundation

Under the bill unveiled earlier today, NSF would be funded at $8.55 billion, an increase of $270 million. Within NSF:

Research and Related Activities Directorate would be funded at $6.97 billion (an increase of $229.9 million
Education and Human Resources would be funded at $970 million (an increase of $30 million.

NASA

NASA would be flat-funded at $22.63 billion in the bill. The bill proposes to divide up the funding, in part, in the following manner:

Science: $7.1 billion (a decrease of $42 million)
Aeronautics: $819 million (an increase of $35 million)
Space Tech: $1.1 billion (level funded)
Space Grant: $50 million (an increase of $2 million)

NOAA

The bill would fund NOAA at $5.45 billion, an increase of $101.9 million.

This is the text of the bill and a summary is available here.

Interior

The current version of the House bill contains $36.76 billion in regular appropriations, an increase of $771 million, and $15 billion in emergency appropriations.

While we have not yet seen further breakdowns for the agency, the USGS is slated to receive an increase of $22 million under this bill.

Both the NEH and the NEA would each be funded at $170 million, an increase of $7.5 million.

The bill text is available here and the summary of the bill is available here.

Energy and Water

Under the the subcommittee-approved bill, the Department of Energy Office of Science would see an increase of $50 million and would be funded at $7.05 billion.

ARPA-E would see an increase of $10 million, while the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program.would be funded at $2.85 billion, an increase of $58 million.

The summary for the bill is available here.

Full Committee

The full Appropriations Committee is slated to take up the Interior bill on Friday and is scheduled to mark up both the Labor-HHS-Education and Energy and Water bills next Monday.

We will provide further details as they become available.