FY 22 APPROPRIATIONS NEWS
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What President Biden Proposed in His Fiscal 2022 Spending Plan
President Biden’s $1.52 trillion spending proposal released on Friday calls for a vast infusion of funds across federal agencies, with proposals for billions of dollars in additional spending in areas like education, public health, climate change and housing. The plan, which does not include Mr. Biden’s sprawling infrastructure proposals, is for the 2022 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. It represents a sharp break from the budget priorities of President Donald J. Trump, who sought to cut funding for domestic programs. ( The New York Times - Apr. 9, 2021)
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A Big Budget from Biden
On Friday, President Biden released his request to the Senate for fiscal year 2022 discretionary funding, also known as the “skinny budget,” because details will follow. The document requests several funding increases for higher education. [If enacted, the plan would increase Pell Grants, increase Education Department funding, increase funding for the NSF, increase support for minority-serving institutions, upgrade STEM paths at minority-serving institutions, fund women's programs at minority-serving institutions, fund renewables at tribal colleges, and attract minority students to STEM.] ( Inside Higher Ed - Apr. 12, 2021)
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Biden’s First Budget Request Goes Big on Science
President Joe Biden today proposed huge increases for many federal research agencies as part of a $118 billion boost in domestic spending. The increases over the current year are part of a 58-page list of priorities Biden released today in advance of a detailed budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2022, which begins on 1 October. Civilian agencies would receive an overall 16% boost, to $769 billion, whereas defense spending would rise by less than 2%, to $753 billion. [Under the request, the National Institutes of Health would grow by $9 billion, to $51 billion; the National Science Foundation would get a 20%, $1.7 billion, boost, to $10.2 billion; and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science would grow by $400 million, to $7.4 billion.] ( Science Magazine - Apr. 9, 2021)
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Biden Wants $6.5 Billion for New Health Agency to Speed Treatments
The Biden administration today began to flesh out a proposal for a new agency—modeled on the military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)—that would seek to speed the development of medical treatments by funding risky, innovative projects. The agency, dubbed ARPA-Health (ARPA-H), would be housed at the National Institutes of Health and have a 2022 budget of $6.5 billion, according to a White House spending request released today. Few other details about ARPA-H have been released, except that it would initially focus on cancer and diseases “such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s.” Under the DARPA model, projects would not be vetted by peer reviewers, but instead, funding decisions would be made by program managers. And instead of multiyear grants, the agency would disburse awards as milestone-driven payments; program managers could also cancel projects that they decide aren’t panning out. ( Science Magazine - Apr. 9, 202)
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Biden Requests $715B for Pentagon, Hinting at Administration’s Future Priorities
U.S. President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2022 budget request asks for $753 billion in national security funding, an increase of 1.6 percent that includes $715 billion for the Defense Department. The request, rolled out Friday, amounts to a slight decrease for the Pentagon when adjusted for inflation, and it’s well shy of the Trump administration’s projected $722 billion request for FY22. The proposal would also end the off-budget funding pool known the overseas contingency operations, or OCO, account. Throughout the document, there is a focus on research and development for new technologies across the government, and the DoD is no exception. The budget request “prioritizes defense research, development, test, and evaluation funding to invest in breakthrough technologies that would drive innovation and underpin the development of next-generation defense capabilities.” ( DefenseNews - Apr. 10, 2021)
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Biden Budget Request Calls for Major Investments in Cybersecurity, Emerging Technologies
President Biden called for over $1.3 billion in cybersecurity funds as part of his proposed budget request sent to Congress on Friday, along with major investments in emerging technologies such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence. Biden also proposed extensive investments in emerging technologies, including through proposing the establishment of a directorate for technology, innovation and partnerships at the National Science Foundation. The organization would prioritize research and developments in fields including quantum computing, robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and cybersecurity. The budget proposes increasing the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Science and Technology’s (NIST) annual appropriations by $128 million to further drive research and innovation around emerging technologies. ( The Hill - Apr. 9, 2021)
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Biden Weaves Climate Crisis throughout His Budget Outline
The Biden administration underscored its focus on climate change in the first glimpse of its budget proposal, calling for tens of billions of dollars in new spending from Congress and framing the warming planet as a pervasive threat that seeps into daily life in myriad ways. Released Friday, President Joe Biden’s budget request for $1.52 trillion in discretionary spending for fiscal year 2022 is separate from the White House’s roughly $2 trillion infrastructure plan, which also centers heavily on climate, low-carbon energy technology and decarbonization. Peppered throughout a 61-page document from the White House budget office, the word climate appears 151 times—more than the terms “COVID-19”, “pandemic” and “infrastructure” combined. ( Roll Call - Apr. 9, 2021)
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