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FY2019 Appropriations Bills Begin to Move

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With the FY2019 set to start October 1, the appropriations bills for the year have begun to move through Congress, with the House Appropriations Committee taking up a number of bills the past several days.

The subcommittee that oversees the Commerce-Justice-Science bill, which funds various agencies and programs of interest to the university– such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, and NOAA– cleared its bill last week and the measure is slated for full Appropriations Committee consideration tomorrow.

The subcommittee-approved version of the bill would fund NSF at $8.17 billion, an increase of approximately $400 million.  Within the agency, the Research and Related Activities account would receive $6.65 billion, an increase of $317 million above the current level.  The Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction account would be funded at $268 million under this version of the legislation, of which $123.8 million would be dedicated to the construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

Under the bill, the Space Grant Program at NASA would be level funded at $40 million in FY2019.

Within NOAA, the Integrated Ocean Observing System would see a slight increase to $37.5 million.  The bill would appropriate $68.5 million to the Sea Grant Program while separately funding the Marine Aquaculture program at $11.5 million.

The legislation also funds the various NOAA Cooperative Institutes (CIs).  Climate research CIs would be funded at $73.0 million in FY2019, compared to $60 million this year.  However, the bill would also eliminate the Competitive Research, Sustained Observation, and Regional Information Program in the broader Climate Research account at NOAA.

Additional details about the bill are available here.

The House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee cleared its funding bill last night, sending it to the full committee for its consideration in the near future.  While most of the details about the bill are not yet available, it would fund the Earthquake Early Warning system at $21 million in FY2019.  Office of Federal Relations will provide additional details about this and other bills as they become available.

Across the Capitol, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) announced that his committee will move on its bills starting next week.

Additional Details of Omnibus Package Available

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More details of the FY2018 Omnibus spending package unveiled last are now available.

Within the budget for the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Nursing Workforce Development programs would be funded at $249.5 million, an increase of $20 million above the final FY2017 enacted levels.  The Public Health and Preventive Medicine program would be level funded at $17.0 million under this bill.

With respect to programs funded by the Department of Education, Title VI/ International Education programs would collectively be level funded at $72.2 million.  The Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program would see a cut of $5 million to $23.0 million.

The bill provides $350 million to allow borrowers not currently eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to join it.  It also would use a portion of the surplus from the Pell Grant program to over the increased mandatory expense associated with the increase in the maximum award.

The Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction account at the National Science Foundation would be funded at the Administration-requested level of $182.8 million, with $57.8 million dedicated to the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, also as requested by the Administration.

Within the NASA budget, Earth Science programs would essentially be level funded at $1.9 billion.  The popular Space Grant program would be level funded at the FY2017 level of $40.0 million.

The Commerce-Justice-State portion of the package funds, among other agencies and programs, NOAA and its various programs.  Sea Grant, which was proposed for elimination by the Administration, would see a slight increase to $76.5 million while the Integrated Ocean Observing System program would be funded at $35.0 million, also a slight increase above the FY2017 level.  As part of the Climate Research account within the Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) line, Climate Research Labs and Cooperative Institutes are slated for level funding of $60 million.

Of interest in the Interior portion of the massive legislative package, the bill would level fund the Cooperative Research Units at the U.S. Geological Survey at $17.4 million while mandating that the Survey maintain a total of eight Climate Science Centers around the country in FY2018 and keeping them level funded at $25.3 million.

Office of Federal Relations will provide further details.

New Foundation for American Greatness Budget for FY 2018

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The Administration unveiled the New Foundation for American Greatness Budget which builds on the America First or blueprint or skinny budget released in March.

Similar to the previous Administration, the Trump Administration does address the sequester caps. Where the Obama Administation repeatedly proposed scaling back the spending caps on both military and domestic spending, Trump would relieve just the defense spending caps and decrease caps on discretionary spending.  Under Trump’s plans, nondefense discretionary spending would decrease by 2 percent each year, as part of his broader efforts to balance the budget by the end of the decade. The budget refers to those 2 percent nondefense cuts as a “two-penny plan.” The domestic spending cuts laid out in Trump’s budget would increase each year compared to the annual spending caps under current law: a $77 billion reduction below the cap in FY 2019, a $99 billion cut in FY 2020, reaching a $260 billion cut in FY 2027 – all levels are calculated as below projected levels under current law.

Overall, the Administration’s budget calls for $668 billion in defense spending, coming in $22 billion above current levels. The proposal would cut more than $1.5 trillion out of base nondefense spending programs over the next decade, while rolling back statutory budget caps to hike military spending by nearly $500 billion during the same period. The Administration would drop base domestic spending to $462 billion in FY 2018, with deeper cuts each year over the next decade until nondefense spending shrinks to $385 billion in FY 2027. Statutory limits on defense and nondefense discretionary spending are in place through FY 2021 under the 2011 deficit control law (Budget Control Act or the sequester).  Trump’s budget assumes that without his proposed changes, discretionary spending would continue to grow through FY 2027 at rates “consistent with current law,” according to the budget documents.

Proactive themes for the Administration include tax reform, federal workforce production and streamlining, continued regulatory reform and six weeks of paid family leave.

  • Federal workforce reduction will remain a priority while improving management and delivery of critical services; reducing work related towards compliance activities; letting manager adopt private practices for hiring and IT services; and hold agencies accountable for performance.
  • Continued regulatory reform will remain an issue via Executive Order 13777, “Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda.” Within each agency a Regulatory Reform Officer and a Regulatory Reform Task Force to carry out the President’s regulatory reform priorities. These new teams will work hard to identify regulations that eliminate jobs or inhibit job creation; are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective; or impose costs that exceed benefits.
  • The budget includes a proposal to increase mandatory spending by $25 billion during the next decade to establish paid family leave. The program, if approved by Congress, would include six weeks of paid family leave for all new parents, including those who adopt.

One important note, all summaries in the budget show FY 2017 numbers as the FY 2017 CR levels annualized–NOT the final levels in the FY 2017 omnibus. As a result, the cuts (or increases) presented in the text and tables are not accurate.

 

All GPO Budget information is here.

Budget Overview is here. 

Appendix with detailed budget estimates is here. 

Major Savings and Reforms are here. 

Fact sheets from the Administration:

Agency highlights are below.

Commerce

The President’s 2018 Budget requests $7.8 billion for the Department of Commerce, a $1.5 billion or 16 percent decrease from the 2017 annualized CR level. It maintains NOAA’s Polar Follow On satellite program, Joint Polar Satellite System (at a 10 percent cut) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite programs, and the National Weather Service forecasting capabilities. Cuts are assessed to National Ocean Service ($24 million), Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and National Weather Service.

Eliminations:

  • Eliminates the Minority Business Development Agency
  • Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program, which subsidizes up to half the cost of State centers, which provide consulting services to small- and medium-size manufacturers.
  • Eliminates $250 million in targeted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grants and programs supporting coastal and marine management, research, and education including Sea Grant [Note: the NOAA budget specifics will not be released until next week.]

 

 

DOD

The President’s 2018 Budget requests $639 billion for DOD, a $52 billion increase from the 2017 annualized CR level. The total includes $574 billion for the base budget, a 10 percent increase from the 2017 annualized CR level, and $65 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations.

The Defense Health Program (DHP) provides care to current and retired members of the Armed Forces, their family members, and other eligible beneficiaries. The Defense Health Agency would be funded at $25.2 billion from $31 billion.

The Overseas Contingency Operations Fund has a request of $65 billion.

The Department of Defense (DOD) has approximately 20 percent excess infrastructure capacity across all Military Departments. The best way to eliminate DOD’s unneeded infrastructure is through the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. If the Congress authorizes DOD to begin a new round of BRAC in 2021, DOD estimates it could generate $2 billion or more in annual savings by 2027. These savings would be re-invested in higher priority DOD needs.

 

ED

The President’s 2018 Budget provides $59 billion in discretionary funding down from $68 billion in the FY 2017 Omnibus which is a ~14 percent cut.

The Administration would ramp school choice funding up to an annual total of $20 billion (from $1.4 billion), and an estimated $100 billion including matching State and local funds. This additional investment in 2018 includes a $168 million increase for charter schools, $250 million for a new private school choice program, and a $1 billion increase for Title I, dedicated to encouraging districts to adopt a system of student-based budgeting and open enrollment that enables Federal, State, and local funding to follow the student to the public school of his or her choice.  Maintains approximately $13 billion in funding for IDEA programs to support students with special education needs. Safeguards the Pell Grant program by level funding the discretionary appropriation, while proposing a cancellation of $3.9 billion from unobligated carryover funding, leaving the Pell program on sound footing for the next decade. The Budget supports year-round Pell Grant eligibility to allow students the opportunity to earn a third semester of Pell Grant support up to an additional 50 percent of their regular Pell Grant award during an award year in which they have exhausted their eligibility and enroll in additional coursework, ensuring that students can accelerate their studies and enter the workforce on time.

The budget does propose student loan reforms including consolidating the federal government’s more than half dozen income-based repayment programs into a single plan (proposed savings of at least $76 billion over the next 10 years); eliminating subsidized student loans (proposed savings of $39 billion over the next decade); and eliminating public service loan forgiveness (proposed savings of at least $27 billion over the next decade).

Reductions:

  • Federal Work-Study to $500 million from $990 million in FY 2017 Omnibus, a 50 percent cut/
  • Gaining Early Awareness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) to $219 million from $340 million in FY 2017 Omnibus, a 35.5 percent cut. Many of the services provided by GEAR UP are duplicative of other Department of Education programs, such as Talent Search (one of the five TRIO programs), and there is limited evidence that GEAR UP is effective at increasing college access and persistence of its participants.
  • TRiO to $808 million from $950 million in FY 2017 Omnibus, a 15 percent reduction.
  • GAANN to $6 million from $28 million in FY 2017 Omnibus, an 80 percent reduction.

Eliminates:

  • 21st Century Community Learning Centers program
  • Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program
  • Comprehensive Literacy Development Grants
  • Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
  • International Education and Foreign Language Studies Domestic and Overseas Programs
  • Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP)
  • Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants program
  • Teacher Quality Partnerships (TPQ)

 

ENERGY

The President’s 2018 Budget requests $28.0 billion for DOE with a focus on moving toward a responsive nuclear infrastructure and advancing the existing program of record for warhead life extension programs through elimination of defense sequestration for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Ensures the Office of Science continues to invest in the highest priority basic science and energy research and development as well as operation and maintenance of existing scientific facilities for the community for a total of $4.47 billion from $5.392 billion in FY2017 Omnibus, a 17 percent cut. Within that Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy, Nuclear Energy, and Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability are all cut. The only program increased is Advanced Scientific Computing Research.

 

Eliminates:

  • Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)
  • Four applied energy research and development (R&D) program areas:
    • Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy,
    • Fossil Energy,
    • Nuclear Energy, and
    • Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability

 

HHS

The National Institutes of Health would face a $5.6 billion reduction from the previous fiscal year, reducing its budget to $26.9 billion from its $32.5 billion appropriation in FY 2017 a cut of $7.2 billion compared to the comparable figure from the FY 2017 omnibus, approximately 21 percent, which, would result in 1,946 fewer grants. Much of that savings would come from a $1 billion reduction to the $5.5 billion budget of the National Cancer Institute, the largest of the health research agency’s two dozen institutes. Most of the others would be similarly subject to cuts of around 20 percent, except for a $70 million international health research center that would be eliminated entirely. Also reduced is the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) by reducing its budget by 36 percent.

 

The budget does propose a cap of 10 percent on indirect costs of the total grant starting in 2018.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention budget would see a $1.3 billion cut to around $5 billion from its discretionary total in FY 2017 of $6.3 billion. The savings would come from reductions for a variety of programs, but the steepest cuts would be to programs for environmental health, occupational safety, emerging infectious diseases, and prevention of HIV/AIDS and other chronic diseases.

Eliminates:

  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ)
  • Fogarty International Center
  • Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)
  • Food and Drug Administration (FDA) medical product user fees
  • health professions and nursing training programs (HRSA Title VII and VIII)
  • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

 

DHS

The President’s 2018 Budget requests $44.1 billion with $314 million to recruit, hire, and train 500 new Border Patrol Agents and 1,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement law enforcement personnel in 2018, plus associated support staff.  It provides an additional $1.5 billion above the 2017 annualized CR level for expanded detention, transportation, and removal of illegal immigrants. Invests $15 million to begin implementation of mandatory nationwide use of the E-Verify Program, an internet-based system that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their new employees to work in the United States.  Safeguards cyberspace with $1.5 billion for DHS activities that protect Federal networks and critical infrastructure from an attack.

Restructures selected user fees for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to ensure that the cost of Government services is not subsidized by taxpayers who do not directly benefit from those programs.

Eliminates or reduces State and local grant funding by $667 million for programs administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that are either unauthorized by the Congress, such as FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program, or that must provide more measurable results and ensure the Federal Government is not supplanting other stakeholders’ responsibilities, such as the Homeland Security Grant Program. For that reason, the Budget also proposes establishing a 25 percent non-Federal cost match for FEMA preparedness grant awards that currently require no cost match.

Eliminates and reduces unauthorized and underperforming programs administered by TSA in order to strengthen screening at airport security checkpoints, a savings of $80 million from the 2017 annualized CR level. These savings include reductions to the Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response program, which achieves few Federal law enforcement priorities, and elimination of TSA grants to State and local jurisdictions, a program intended to incentivize local law enforcement patrols that should already be a high priority for State and local partners. In addition, the Budget reflects TSA’s decision in the summer of 2016 to eliminate the Behavior Detection Officer program, reassigning all of those personnel to front line airport security operations.

 

DOI

The President’s 2018 Budget requests $11.6 billion for DOI with a focus on reducing federal land acquisition.

Eliminates:

  • Heritage Partnership Program
  • National Wildlife Refuge Fund

 

STATE

The President’s 2018 Budget requests $25.6 billion in base funding for the Department of State and USAID, and cuts by half funding the Department of State’s Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs, including the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Global health programs are cut by $2 billion from FY 2017 CR levels by eliminating funding in the Global Health Programs account for international family planning programs and additional reductions below the 2017 CR level for tuberculosis, nutrition, vulnerable children, and neglected tropical diseases.

Eliminates:

  • Global Climate Change Initiative
  • USAID Development Assistance account

 

EPA

The President’s 2018 Budget requests $5.7 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency with a focus on reducing enforcement activities, particularly where there is overlap with state agencies. EPA STAR grants  receive $249 million a 50 percent cut.

 

Eliminates:

  • Energy Star
  • Geographic Programs for a variety of ecosystem protection activities within specific watersheds, including the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, and others

 

NASA

The President’s 2018 Budget requests $19.1 billion for NASA. It provides $1.8 billion for a focused, balanced Earth science portfolio that supports the priorities of the science and applications communities, a savings of $102 million from the 2017 annualized CR level. The Budget terminates four Earth science missions (PACE, OCO-3, DSCOVR, Earth-viewing instruments, and CLARREO Pathfinder) and reduces funding for Earth science research grants. It eliminates the $115 million from the Office of Education to fund it at $37 million, resulting in a more focused education effort through NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

 

NSF

The Budget proposes a reduction of 11 percent to National Science Foundation (NSF) grant programs to $6.652 billion from FY2017 Omnibus $7.472. Cuts in every directorate across the board.

 

National Science Foundation
Summary Table 

FY 2018 Budget Request to Congress
(Dollars in Millions)
FY 2016
Actual		 FY 2017
Annualized
CR		 FY 2018
Request		 FY 2018 Request change over
FY 2016 Actuals
NSF by Account Amount Percent
BIO $723.78 – $672.11 -$51.67 -7.1%
CISE 935.20 – 838.92 -96.28 -10.3%
ENG 915.68 – 833.49 -82.19 -9.0%
Eng Programs 727.16 –  657.28 -69.88 -9.6%
SBIR/STTR 188.52 –  176.21 -12.31 -6.5%
GEO 876.51 – 783.31 -93.20 -10.6%
MPS 1,348.78 – 1,219.43 -129.35 -9.6%
SBE 272.20 – 244.02 -28.18 -10.4%
OISE 49.07 – 44.02 -5.05 -10.3%
OPP 448.87 – 409.18 -39.69 -8.8%
IA 426.57 – 315.74 -110.83 -26.0%
U.S. Arctic Research Commission 1.43 – 1.43 – –
Research & Related Activities $5,998.09 $6,022.18 $5,361.65 -$636.44 -10.6%
Education & Human Resources $884.10 $878.33 $760.55 -$123.55 -14.0%
Major Research Equipment &
Facilities Construction		 $241.50 $199.93 $182.80 -$58.70 -24.3%
Agency Operations & Award
Management		 $351.11 $329.37 $328.51 -$22.60 -6.4%
National Science Board $4.31 $4.36 $4.37 $0.06 1.5%
Office of Inspector General $14.76 $15.13 $15.01 $0.25 1.7%
Total, NSF $7,493.86 $7,449.30 $6,652.89 -$840.98 -11.2%

 

 

 

New Executive Order Aimed at Rolling Back Obama-era Environmental Policies Signed

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At the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday, President Trump signed an executive order designed to roll back many of the Obama-era environmental policies aimed at curbing climate change. Among the provisions of the new order are those instructing the agency to consider repealing the Clean Power Plan and asking the EPA to also consider repealing the limits on new power plants.

A copy of the executive order is available here.

America First Budget Released

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The Trump Administration released its first budget, called the American First Budget this morning. Coming in at 62 pages total, the “America First” budget blueprint is what is known as a “skinny budget” is somewhat scant on details. The budget’s main theme is doing more with less by eliminating “nonfunctioning” or duplicative programs and wasteful spending; streamlining federal operations through accountability measures within the agencies; and regulatory reform. The $1.15 trillion proposal in discretionary spending would amount to an overall cut of 1.2 percent, when compared to current spending levels on an annualized basis, according to the White House document. The proposed cuts will be unpopular with Congressional Republicans and Democrats alike, most notably the proposed $5.8 billion cut to the National Institutes of Health. 

Agencies that would receive increased funding include, the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs.  The blueprint specifically calls out the need to ramp up and focus on military operations as well as border security. This increased spending would be accomplished without increasing the deficit by cutting the amount nondefense discretionary (NDD) spending.  All other NDD agencies mentioned are cut between 0.8-31%. Of note, there is no mention of the National Science Foundation anywhere in this document.  

Previously reported items – such as the $54 billion in defense spending (a $52 billion increase over FY2017 CR levels) to the DOD is included to ramp up military readiness and operations; a 6.8% increase to DHS, including $1.5 billion to remove illegal immigrants and $2.6 billion for a wall along the southern border; cuts to NOAA’s Sea Grant and EPA programs – are included in the blueprint. What has not been widely reported is the Administration’s request for an additional $65 billion for the DOD’s Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) fund. This funding does not count against the budget caps in the sequester.

In terms of next steps, it should first be noted that the Administration’s budget is a kickoff to the negotiations of the upcoming fiscal year’s budget and appropriations negotiations. In this case, that would be FY2018. It is a guiding document intended to give a glimpse into the priorities and intended policies of the Administration and it is rarely, if ever, taken up whole cloth by Congress.

Second, this blueprint, as it is presented, is not possible under the current budget structure without Congress acting legislatively. The Budget Control Act, which created the sequester, specifically created a firewall between defense spending and NDD spending. This means, the White House and Congress cannot cut NDD funds to shift over to defense funding without changing the law. If defense spending increases or decreases, so must the other.  It cannot be done by budget reconciliation alone; all changes will require 60 votes in the Senate.

This budget proposes devastating cuts to scientific programs. It would eliminate long-standing, successful programs, which have had profound impact on our community and the nation. These are programs that enjoy bipartisan support in Congress. Many of the programs listed for cutting or reductions are long-time federal priorities of the UW and Congress, including funding NIH. UW has long-advocated for the value of these programs and their funding and we will continue to do so to our delegation and with fellow universities and broader stakeholders within an interest in preserving this funding.

There are a host of programs singled out to be cut. Those are listed at the end.

Here are highlights:

USDA

USDA is cut by 21% to $17.9 billion from the FY 2017 CR level.

  • SNAP and WIC are preserved at $6.2 billion to serve all projected participants.
  • Fully funds wildland fire preparedness and suppression activities at $2.4 billion.
  • Continues to fund NIFA, ARS and ag research at $350 million (which is a cut), while prioritizing agriculture and food issues such as increasing farming productivity, sustaining natural resources, including those within rural communities, and addressing food safety and nutrition priorities.

—

Commerce

Commerce is cut by 16% or $.15 billion over FY2017 CR levels to $7.8 billion.

  •  Eliminates the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program.
  •  Cuts $250 million in targeted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grants and programs supporting coastal and marine management, research, and education including Sea Grant (because Sea Grant primarily benefits industry and State and local stakeholders). The budget maintains these programs are a lower priority than core functions maintained in the Budget such as surveys, charting, and fisheries management. It does not go into detail as to which NOAA coastal and marine programs are cut, but it is presumed to be NOAA’s Ocean and Atmospheric Research office.
  • National Weather Service forecasting capabilities are preserved by investing more than $1 billion while continuing to promote efficient and effective operations.
  • Maintains NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite programs to remain on schedule.

—

Defense

DOD receives $639 billion, which is a $54 billion total increase (a $52 billion increase from the 2017 annualized CR level). The total includes $574 billion for the base budget, a 10% increase from the 2017 annualized CR level, and $65 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations.

—

Education

ED is cut by $9 billion, or 13% from the FY2017 CR levels, to $59 billion.

  • School Choice options are ramped up by $1.4 billion to a total of $20 billion (it also assumes $100 billion in state and local funding). This additional investment in 2018 includes a $168 million increase for charter schools, $250 million for a new private school choice program, and a $1 billion increase for Title I, dedicated to encouraging districts to adopt a system of student based budgeting and open enrollment that enables Federal, State, and local funding to follow the student to the public school of his or her choice.
  • Maintains IDEA funding of $13 billion.
  • Maintains Pell Funding at $3.9 billion, but cancels/rescinds the $3.9 billion carryover funding, which ensured the stability of the program.
  •  Eliminates:
    • Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants
    • 21st Century Community Learning Centers
    • Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
    • Striving Readers
    • Teacher Quality Partnership
    • Impact Aid Support Payments
  • International Education programs are eliminated, which is presumed to be Title VI International Education and Fulbright-Hays.
  • Cuts TRiO and GEAR UP programs by $193 million to $808 million from the FY2017 CR level. In FY2016, TRiO was funded at $900 million and GEAR Up received $323 million. It is unclear how the cuts will be allocated. The budget says, “Funding to TRIO programs is reduced in areas that have limited evidence on the overall effectiveness in improving student outcomes. The Budget funds GEAR UP continuation awards only, pending the completion of an upcoming rigorous evaluation of a portion of the program.”

 —

Energy

DOE is cut by 5.6% percent to $28 billion.

  • $120 million to restart licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain
  • $6.5 billion to advance the Environmental Management program mission of cleaning up the legacy of waste and contamination from energy research and nuclear weapons production.
  •  Office of Science is cut by $900 million (it is unclear what and where). The FY 2016 level is $5.3 billion. The cut ensures the Office of Science “continues to invest in the highest priority basic science and energy research and development as well as operation and maintenance of existing scientific facilities for the community.”
  • “Focuses funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Office of Nuclear Energy, the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, and the Fossil Energy Research and Development program on limited, early-stage applied energy research and development activities where the Federal role is stronger.” This presumes a cut, reflected in the overall cut, and reprioritization of projects and programs, but there are no details.
  • Eliminates
    • ARPA-E
    • Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program
    • Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program
    • Weatherization Assistance Program
    • State Energy Program

 —

HHS

HHS is cut by 17.9%, or $15.1, billion to $69 billion. (Right now, this is a nonstarter with Congress and totally in opposition to the efforts of the House and Senate in the last two appropriations cycles and the December 2016-passed 21st Century Cures Act).

  • $500 million increase to opioid abuse funding
  • Recalibrates Food and Drug Administration (FDA) medical product user fees to over $2 billion in 2018, approximately $1 billion over the 2017 annualized CR level, and replaces the need for new budget authority to cover pre-market review costs. (NOTE: Congress sets the product user fees, not the Administration).
  • Cuts National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) by $5.8 billion to $25.9 billion and proposes unclear “consolidations and structural changes across NIH organizations and activities.”
  • Creates a new Federal Emergency Response Fund to rapidly respond to public health outbreaks, such as Zika
  • Eliminates:
    • Eliminates $403 million in health professions and nursing training programs, which is assumed to be Title VII and Title VIII programs.
    • Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
    • Community Services Block Grant (CSBG)
    • Fogarty International Center
  • Consolidating the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality within NIH

 —

Homeland Security

DHS receives a 6.8% increase to $44.1 billion.

  • Adds $2.6 billion for a wall along the US’s southern border.
  • Adds $314 million to recruit, hire, and train 500 new Border Patrol Agents and 1,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement law enforcement personnel in 2018.
  • Adds $1.5 billion for expanded detention, transportation, and removal of illegal immigrants.
  • Adds $1.5 billion for DHS cyber activities that protect Federal networks and critical infrastructure.
  • Restructures selected user fees for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to ensure that the cost of Government services is not subsidized by taxpayers who do not directly benefit from those programs. (Most of these are Congressionally directed, but reauthorized semi annually).
  • Cuts FEMA by $667 million including cutting Pre-disaster Mitigation Grants and Proposes a 25% nonfederal cost share match on FEMA preparedness grants.
  • Eliminates “unauthorized or underperforming” TSA programs by $80 million. 

— 

Housing and Urban Development

HUD is cut by $6.2 billion, or 13.2%, to $40.7 billion.

  •  Increases safe and healthy lead-safe homes programs by $20 million to $130 million.
  •  Eliminates
    • Community Development Block Grant (CDGB) ($3 billion)
    • HOME Investment Partnerships Program
    • Choice Neighborhoods
    • Self-help Homeownership Opportunity Program
    • Section 4 Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing

 —

Interior

DOI is cut by 12%, or $1.5 billion, to $11.6 billion.

  • Increases funding by an unspecified amount for DOI programs that support environmentally responsible development of energy on public lands and offshore waters.
  •  Eliminates unnecessary, lower priority, or duplicative programs, including discretionary Abandoned Mine Land grants that overlap with existing mandatory grants, National Heritage Areas that are more appropriately funded locally, and National Wildlife Refuge fund payments to local governments that are duplicative of other payment programs.
  • Reduces funds for new federal lands acquisition.
  • Reduces funds for other DOI construction and major maintenance programs.
  • $900 million for DOI’s U.S. Geological Survey to focus investments in essential science programs. This includes funding for the Landsat 9 ground system, as well as research and data collection that informs sustainable energy development, responsible resource management, and natural hazard risk reduction, which is a slight cut.

 —

Justice

DOJ is cut by 3.8 percent or $1.1 billion to $27.7 billion.

  • An increase of $249 million, or 3 percent, above the 2017 annualized CR level for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), including $61 million more to fight terrorism and combat foreign intelligence and cyber threats and address public safety and national security risks that result from malicious actors’ use of encrypted products and services.
  •  An increase of $80 million to hire 75 additional immigration judge teams.
  • $171 million increase for additional short-term detention space to hold Federal detainees, including criminal aliens, parole violators, and other offenders awaiting trial or sentencing.
  • Cuts federal prison construction due to an over-abundance in space but provides $80 million for the activation of an existing facility to reduce high security Federal inmate overcrowding and a total of $113 million to repair and modernize outdated prisons.

 —

Labor

DOL is cut by 21%, or $2.5 billion, for $9.6 billion for the Department of Labor, a $2.5 billion or 21 percent decrease.

  • Eliminates:
    • Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP)
    • Bureau of International Labor Affairs grant program
    • Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s unproven training grants
  • Decreases Federal support for job training and employment service formula grants, shifting more responsibility for funding these services to States, localities, and employers.
  • Refocuses the Office of Disability Employment Policy, eliminating less critical technical assistance grants and launching an early intervention demonstration project to allow States to test and evaluate methods that help individuals with disabilities remain attached to or reconnect to the labor market.

 —

International Programs

USAID is cut by 28% to $25.6 billion. The Budget also requests $12.0 billion as Overseas Contingency Operations funding for extraordinary costs, primarily in war areas like Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, for an agency total of $37.6 billion. Treasury International Programs are cut by $803 million or 35% to $1.5 billion.

  • Gives $3.1 billion for Israel
  • Eliminates
    • Global Climate Change Initiative
    • Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance
    • Complex Crises Fund
    • The Budget also eliminates direct appropriations to small organizations that receive funding from other sources and can continue to operate without direct Federal funds, such as the East-West Center, but no other specific programs are mentioned.
  • Reduces funding for the Department of State’s Educational and Cultural Exchange (ECE) Programs.
  •  Cuts $650 million from multilateral development banks, including the World Bank.

 —

Transportation

DOT would be cut by 13% or $2.4 billion to $16.2 billion. Most notably this budget would initiate a multi-year reauthorization proposal to shift the air traffic control function of the Federal Aviation Administration to an independent, non-governmental organization.

  • Eliminates:
    •  Essential Air Service (EAS) program
    • TIGER Grants because they are unauthorized

— 

Treasury

Treasury is cut by 4.1% to $12.1 billion.

  • Cuts IRS by $239 million and presumes to make everyone e-file.
  • Eliminates
    • Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund grants
  • Cuts duplicative staff.

 —

Veterans Affairs

The VA gets a 6% increase to $78.9 billion.

  • $4.6 billion increase in discretionary funding for VA health care
  • Extends and funds the Veterans Choice Program

 —

EPA

The EPA is cut by 31% or $2.6 billion to $5.7 billion including eliminating 3,200 of the EPA workforce.

  • $2.3 billion for the State Revolving Funds, which is a $4 million increase.
  • $20 million for the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program.
  •  Reins in Superfund administrative costs and emphasizes efficiency efforts by funding the Hazardous Substance Superfund Account.
  •  Eliminates, (not wholly inclusive):
    • Funding for the Clean Power Plan
    • International climate change programs
    • Climate change research and partnership programs (presumed to be EPA STAR grants)
    • Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Chesapeake Bay, and other geographic programs.
    • Energy Star Program
    • Targeted Airshed Grants
    • Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program
    • Infrastructure assistance to Alaska Native Villages and the Mexico Border
  • Reduces EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance budget to $419 million, which is a $129 million cut.
  • Cuts Categorical Grants by $82 million to $597 million.

 —

NASA

NASA has a .8% decrease to $19.1 billion.

  • Eliminates for Earth Sciences missions (PACE, OCO-3, DSCOVR, Earth-viewing instruments, and CLARREO Pathfinder)
  • Reduces funding for Earth science research grants to an unknown amount.
  • Eliminates the Office of Education, which includes NASA Space Grant 

—

Small Business

SBA is cut by 5% to $826.5 million. Cuts PRIME technical assistance grants, Regional Innovation Clusters, and Growth Accelerators. Maintains $28 million in microloan financing and technical assistance to help serve, strengthen, and sustain the smallest of small businesses and startups.

 

Specific Programs Cited for Elimination:

  • African Development Foundation
  • Appalachian Regional Commission
  • Chemical Safety Board
  • Choice Neighborhoods (HUD)
  • Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) at HUD
  • Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund grants (Treasury)
  • Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) at HHS
  • Corporation for National and Community Service
  • Corporation for Public Broadcasting
  • Delta Regional Authority
  • Denali Commission
  • DOE’s ARPA-E
  • Economic Development Administration
  • ED’s Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants
  • ED’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers
  • ED’s Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
  • ED’s International Aid Programs
  • ED’s Striving Readers
  • ED’s Teacher Quality Partnership
  • ED’s Impact Aid Support Payments
  • EPA change research and partnership programs (presumed to be EPA STAR grants)
  • EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Chesapeake Bay, and other geographic programs.
  • EPA Energy Star program
  • EPA Targeted Airshed Grants
  • EPA Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program
  • EPA infrastructure assistance to Alaska Native Villages and the Mexico Border
  • HHS’s health professions and nursing training programs (presumably Title VII and Title VIII)
  • HUD’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program
  • HUD’s Section 4 Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing
  • HUD’s Self-help Homeownership Opportunity Program
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services
  • Inter-American Foundation
  • U.S. Trade and Development Agency
  • Legal Services Corporation
  • Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
  • Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program
  • Minority Business Development Agency
  • National Endowment for the Arts
  • National Endowment for the Humanities
  • NASA Office of Education, including NASA Space Grant
  • Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
  • Northern Border Regional Commission
  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s training grants
  • Overseas Private Investment Corporation
  • State Criminal Alien Assistance Program
  • Labor’s Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP)
  • Transportation’s Essential Air Service (EAS) program
  • USDOT  TIGER Grants
  • United States Institute of Peace
  • United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
  • USDA Water and Wastewater loan and grant program
  • USDA McGovern-Dole International Food for Education program
  • USDA Rural Business and Cooperative Service, reduces discretionary activities
  • Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars