FY 22 APPROPRIATIONS NEWS
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Congress Takes First Spending Steps, with Good News for U.S. Research Agencies
Given the availability of more money, spending panels in the U.S. House of Representatives are proposing funding levels that approach the large increases that President Joe Biden has requested next year for several federal research agencies. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) would get hefty increases of 15% and 13%, respectively, in bills taken up today by two House appropriations subcommittees, the first step in the process of setting annual funding levels. NASA science programs would rise by 10% to nearly $8 billion, and the Office of Science at the Department of Energy (DOE) would grow by 4% to $7.32 billion. Core research programs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology would grow by nearly 20%, to $938 million. ( Science Magazine - July 12, 2021)
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Biden’s Higher Ed Budget Moves Ahead in House
The House Appropriations Committee is planning to mark up an initial draft of its funding bill for federal higher education programs on Thursday for fiscal year 2022. The bill largely aligns with President Biden’s budget and includes substantial increases to student financial aid and science research. Over all, the legislation provides $27.2 billion for federal student aid programs and another $3.43 billion for higher education programs, an increase of $889 million from fiscal year 2021 and $122 million above Biden’s budget request. The bill would increase the maximum annual Pell Grant award by $400, as well as boost funding for the National Institutes of Health to $49 billion —up $6.5 billion from fiscal year 2021 —and funding for career, technical and adult education to $2.2 billion. ( Inside Higher Ed - July 13, 2021)
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House Appropriations Bill Supports Increase to NASA’s Budget
A House appropriations subcommittee advanced a spending bill July 12 that would provide NASA with a small increase over what the administration proposed for fiscal year 2022, but does not address some key areas of concern. The commerce, justice and science (CJS) subcommittee favorably reported a spending bill that provides $25.04 billion for NASA in fiscal year 2022. That would be 7.6% higher than what NASA received in 2021, but just 1% above the administration’s request of $24.8 billion released in May. NASA’s science program would see an overall increase of $38 million compared to the request, with increases to planetary science and astrophysics offset partially by cuts to heliophysics and biological and physical sciences. Aeronautics would increase by $20 million, but space operations would be cut by $56 million. ( SpaceNews - July 12, 2021)
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Two Dozen Organizations Launch #DoublePell Campaign
A coalition of 24 higher education associations, organizations and advocacy groups launched a national campaign today in support of doubling the maximum Pell Grant by the program's 50th anniversary, which will be next June. The Double Pell Alliance created a website to provide students, families and other stakeholders with the tools to encourage their lawmakers to support an urgent doubling of the grant to a maximum of $13,000 per year. The website also allows students to share their stories about how the Pell Grant has helped them and why it's important for the maximum award to be doubled. Members of the alliance include the six major higher education associations, as well as the Council for Opportunity in Education, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. ( Inside Higher Ed - July 13, 2021)
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Senate Bill Gives ‘Have-not’ States a Gigantic Research Set-aside
A battle is brewing in the U.S. Congress over a little-known program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) that provides money to states that fare poorly in the agency’s funding competitions. Last month the Senate approved legislation that would devote 20% of NSF’s overall budget to the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), which serves 25 states and the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. If enacted, it would immediately boost EPSCoR’s spending 10-fold, to some $2 billion per year. Although that process is seen as an excellent way to choose the best proposals, it has led to a staggering geographic imbalance. The top five states—California, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Maryland—garner nearly 40% of the total, whereas the bottom five—Vermont, West Virginia, North and South Dakota, and Wyoming—together receive less than 1%. That distribution results in serious inequities across the U.S. research enterprise, say advocates for the Senate’s plan, which is part of a massive bill aimed at using research to help the country compete against China. ( Science Magazine - July 12, 2021)
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US Effort to Combat China’s Tech Rise ‘Not Nearly Enough’
In May 2018, just months after the U.S.-China trade war escalated and both sides began slapping tariffs on each other’s goods, Chinese President Xi Jinping outlined his vision of how his country would unseat the United States as the global superpower. . . . Congress has [since] passed a slew of bills in both chambers that would provide nearly $80 billion to the National Science Foundation and to national labs overseen by the Department of Energy. The Senate also separately appropriated $52 billion in subsidies for the struggling U.S. semiconductor industry. The measures also ask the National Science Foundation to focus research on 10 critical areas of national interest, which, not surprisingly, are identical to the ones Xi highlighted in 2018. While differences in the bills need to be sorted out before they can be signed into law by President Joe Biden, more than a dozen people interviewed for this series say the United States faces a monumental task in keeping its focus on the long-term challenge posed by China’s quest for technology leadership. ( Roll Call - July 13, 2021)
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