Skip to content
News and updates

Category: Climate

Congress Continues to March Through Appropriations

Posted on

Both chambers of Congress continue their march through the FY2019 appropriations process.

The Senate Appropriations Committee took up and cleared its Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS), Interior, and Legislative Branch bills earlier today, meaning that the committee has cleared seven of the 12 spending bills.  Some of the initial details about the CJS and Interior bills were posted yesterday.

In the House, the Defense spending measure was reported out by the Appropriations Committee yesterday and the Labor-HHS-Education bill is scheduled to be taken up by its subcommittee Friday morning.

House Defense Appropriations Bill 

  • Army:  Under this bill, the Army basic research (“6.1”) programs would be funded at $442.2 million while the Army applied research (“6.2”) programs would receive $1.32 billion.
  • Navy:  Navy 6.1 programs would be funded at $619.4 million while Navy 6.2 programs would be funded at $889.2 million.
  • Air Force:  The bill would fund Air Force 6.1 at $516.4 million and would support 6.2 programs at $1.38 billion.
  • Defense-wide:  Defense-wide 6.1 programs would be funded at $720.1 million while the defense-wide 6.2 account would receive $1.97 billion.

A copy of the detailed report for the bill is available here.

Subcommittee Labor-HHS-Education Bill

While the full details from the bill are not yet available, some of the contents of the measure are known.

  • National Institutes of Health (NIH):  Under this bill, NIH would receive an increase of $1.25 billion above the current level, to $38.3 billion
  • Pell Grants:  The maximum award would be maintained at $6,095.
  • TRIO and GEAR UP:  TRIO would be increased by $60 million and GEAR UP would be increased by $10 million.

We will share additional details as they become available.

Initial Details of Senate CJS, Interior Bills Available

Posted on

As noted yesterday, two of the Senate appropriations subcommittees approved the FY2019 Commerce-Justice-Science and Interior spending bills. While the detailed reports accompanying the bills are not yet available, some from the measures are known.

The CJS bill would fund some of the agencies in the following manner:

  • $8.1 billion for NSF, $301 million above the FY2018 enacted level, including:
    • $6.56 billion for NSF’s research and research activities, an increase of $222 million above the current level;
    • $915 million for NSF’s education and training programs, an increase of $13 million above FY2018.
  • $21.3 billion for NASA, $587 million above current level, including:
    • $6.4 billion for Science, $179 million above the FY2018 level, including $1.9 billion for Earth science, $2.2 billion for Planetary science, $1.5 billion for astrophysics (including $304 million for the Webb telescope), and $720 million for Heliophysics;
    • $725 million for Aeronautics, an increase of $40 million;
    • $933 million for Space Technology, $173-million increase.
  • $5.48 billion for NOAA, a $426-million decrease below the current level, including $71 million for the Sea Grant program, which is a $6-million increase.

The Interior bill, which funds, among other agencies the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).  It would appropriate $1.15 billion to the USGS and $155 million to the NEH.

We will continue to provide additional details as they become available.

Two More Spending Bills Cleared by Senate Subcommittees

Posted on

Earlier today, two Senate subcommittees cleared for consideration by the full Appropriations Committee later this week two FY2019 spending bills of great interest to the University of Washington.

The Interior Appropriations Subcommittee approved its bill, which funds, among other agencies and programs, the U.S. Geological Service, the EPA, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee adopted its measure, which provides funding for NSF, NASA, and NOAA, as well as other programs and agencies.

The full Appropriations Committee is scheduled to take up the two bills on Thursday.

The House versions of the bills have already been approved by the Appropriations Committee in that chamber.

Interior Appropriations Bill to Move Next

Posted on

The next item on the agenda for the House Appropriations Committee is its FY2019 Interior spending bill, with the committee scheduled to take it up tomorrow, Tuesday, May 22.

Among the agencies that the bill funds is the U.S Geological Survey (USGS), which in turn supports a number of programs of interest to the University of Washington.  For example, the bill would instruct the USGS to support the Earthquake Early Warning system on the West Coast at a total of $21.1 million, with $16.1 million dedicated to the continued development of the system and $5 million for its capital infrastructure needs.

The  legislation would dedicate $19.29 million for the Cooperative Research Units (CRUs), another USGS program, which represents an increase of $1.9 million.  The increase would be dedicated to filling the number of vacancies across the country at participating universities.  The CRUs were proposed for elimination by the Administration.

The newly renamed Climate Adaptation Science Centers program would be level-funded at $25.3 million.  The Administration is seeking a cut of more than $12 million to the program.

A copy of the bill report is available here.

 

CJS Appropriations Bill Clears House Committee

Posted on

The House Appropriations Committee approved this afternoon by a vote of 32 to 19 the FY2019 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Bill.  As noted previously, the bill funds a number of agencies of interest to the university, including, but not limited to, the National Science Foundation, NASA, and NOAA.  During the committee markup, an amendment was offered, and then withdrawn, by Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) that would have restored $60 million to the Competitive Research program for Climate Research at NOAA.

The bill now heads to the House floor for consideration by the entire chamber.