Appropriations
House Subcommittee Discusses FY 2017 NSF Budget, Funding for All Disciplines of Science
On March 16, the House Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing on the fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget request for the National Science Foundation (NSF), featuring NSF Director France Córdova. Subcommittee Chairman John Culberson (R-TX) opened the hearing by expressing the subcommittee’s longtime support for NSF and basic research, while noting the need to be “exceptionally good stewards” of taxpayer dollars given the tough budgetary environment. As previously reported, the President’s budget request for NSF includes $400 million in one-time mandatory funding, which Chairman Culberson said is “not going to happen.”
NIH Makes Annual Appearance Before House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee
On March 16, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins made his annual, and perhaps final, appearance before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS) as an official of the Obama Administration. Collins was accompanied by four of the NIH’s 27 institute and center directors and/or acting directors, including Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); Richard Hodes, National Institute on Aging (NIA), Doug Lowy, National Cancer Institute (NCI); and Nora Volkow, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The NIH panel received a warm welcome from Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold…
COSSA and Partners Urge Strong FY 2017 Funding for Science Agencies
Now that appropriations season is underway, COSSA has begun working with its coalition partners to urge strong support for agencies that fund social and behavioral science research in fiscal year (FY) 2017. Some of the most recent requests include: 3/3/2016: FY 2017 Appropriations Request for the Bureau of Economic Analysis 3/3/2016: Coalition for International Education FY 2017 Appropriations Request for International Education and Foreign Language Studies, House/Senate 3/1/2016: CDC Coalition FY 2017 Request for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2/25/2016: Friends of IES FY 2017 Appropriations Request for the Institute of Education Sciences, House/Senate 2/22/2016: FY 2017 302(b)…
COSSA’s Analysis of the President’s FY 2017 Budget
President Obama released his fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget request to Congress on February 9. The request proposes increases for many of the federal agencies and programs important to the COSSA community. COSSA has prepared an in-depth analysis of the request as it relates to social and behavioral science research supported by the federal government. The report includes details on the President’s proposals for the dozens of departments, agencies, and programs of interest to social and behavioral science researchers. With the release of the President’s budget, the FY 2017 appropriations process heads into high gear. The big question now is…
President Unveils FY 2017 Budget Request, Kicks Off Annual Funding Battle
The Obama Administration has started releasing details of its final budget request to Congress. Full details of the request for fiscal year (FY) 2017 will continue to roll out over the coming days. COSSA is preparing an in-depth analysis of the request as it pertains to social science programs across the federal government. It is important to note that the President’s request for FY 2017 includes new mandatory spending at several agencies, which would largely account for the increases to these agencies. Details so far include: The National Science Foundation (NSF) would receive nearly $8 billion in FY 2017 (including…
Legislative Action Freezes to a Halt
The Washington, DC region is still digging out from the historic snowfall it witnessed over the weekend. In the interest of safety, the federal government has been closed since noon last Friday. Countless hearings and events have been postponed, further contracting what is already expected to be a tight couple of months for policy making before Members of Congress head home to the campaign trails later this year. The challenging 2016 calendar coupled with new reports on the state of the federal deficit promise to further complicate the already complicated and contentious annual appropriations process. If history is any indication,…
NIH Highlights FY 2016 Legislative Mandates in Effect for the Agency
Included in the fiscal year (FY) 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113) signed into law by President Obama on December 18, 2015 are a number of legislative mandates prohibiting the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from using appropriated FY 2016 funding to support certain research areas (see Update, December 18, 2015). A number of the mandates are a continuation of previous statutory limitations on the agency’s funding and include the areas of gun control, anti-lobbying, restrictions and exceptions to restrictions on abortion, pornography on computer networks, needle distribution, dissemination of false or misleading information, and human embryo research. For…
NSF Director Thanks Community for Support in FY 2016
In her most recent newsletter, National Science Foundation (NSF) Director France Cόrdova reviewed the final funding outlook for NSF for fiscal year (FY) 2016 and thanked NSF advocates for their support in combating attempts to place restrictions on the agency’s funding: “Your strong support of NSF during this last year reinforced the importance of NSF’s mission to the nation and ensured that science, and scientists, will continue to drive where we fund research. With your help, language regarding directorate-specific allocations was not included in the final Consolidated Appropriations Act.” Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Second Session of 114th Congress Gavels In, Funding Debates Quick out the Gate
The House and Senate have returned to Washington for the start of the second session of the 114th Congress. As previously reported, Congress was able to come up with a final agreement on fiscal year (FY) 2016 spending before leaving for the holiday break in December. Funding for agencies and programs important to the social and behavioral science research community was largely protected in the final bill, a positive outcome given the proposals that were floated earlier in the year. Now attention turns to FY 2017. The President will unveil his final budget request on February 9, which will officially…
NIA Director Expresses Appreciation for NIH and NIA FY 2016 Budgets
National Institute on Aging (NIA) director Richard Hodes acknowledged “exciting news” reflected in the FY 2016 budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and specifically for NIA in a January 6 blog post. Noting the $2 billion (6.6 percent) increase for the NIH for FY 2016, Hodes underscored that the increase provided a boost of approximately 33 percent for NIA, including the $350 million in funding allocated for research on Alzheimer’s disease (see COSSA’s omnibus analysis). Notwithstanding the resources dedicated to Alzheimer’s research, NIA’s FY 2016 budget provides a 4.2 percent increase to the institute, “the largest increase to…
Analysis of the FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Bill and Implications for Social and Behavioral Science Research
On December 15, House and Senate negotiators unveiled their final fiscal year (FY) 2016 omnibus appropriations bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (H.R. 2029), which includes all 12 of the individual appropriations bills and totals $1.15 trillion. Congress passed another short term continuing resolution (CR) on Wednesday to allow enough time for the House and Senate to pass the massive spending bill and for the President to sign it, which he has indicated he would. Policymakers now have until December 22 to achieve final passage. Assuming the House can pass the bill on Friday-which will require the support of several…
FY 2016 Funding Debate Labors On
Congress was forced to pass another funding extension last week in order to avoid a government shutdown on December 11. Policy makers have given themselves until December 16 at midnight to complete work on the fiscal year (FY) 2016 appropriations bills, allowing for a few more days to work through the many policy riders (dealing with Syrian refugees, Planned Parenthood, and about 40 others) that have slowed progress on the $1.1 trillion package over the last several weeks. As of the time of this writing, text of a final FY 2016 spending package (also known as an omnibus) has not…
Sam Farr, Ranking Member on House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, Announces Retirement
Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) announced his retirement from Congress at the end of his term after 22 years in the House. Farr is the Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies. As Ranking Member, Farr has been a vocal advocate for agricultural science and statistics, memorably speaking out on the House floor against a proposed amendment to cut funding for the Economic Research Service (ERS) in 2014. It remains to be seen who will fill Farr’s spot. Currently, only three other Democrats serve on the Subcommittee. Back to this…
With Budget Deal in the Books, Work Turns to Finalizing 2016 Spending Bills
Last week was an eventful one in Washington. In just about 72 hours, House and Senate negotiators successfully brokered a two year budget deal with the White House, effectively providing two years of relief from sequestration (i.e. the painful spending caps holding down discretionary spending) and suspending the nation’s debt limit, which would have been breached this week without Congressional action, until early 2017. Last week also ushered in a changing of the guard in the House, with the resignation of Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) as Speaker and as the Representative from the 8th District of Ohio, and election of…
Budget Talks Progressing Slowly Amid GOP Leadership Vacuum
Only 10 Congressional working days remain between now and the date the U.S. Treasury Department estimates the U.S. will have exhausted its “extraordinary measures” and default on its debt. Originally estimated for November 5, Treasury now says that the U.S. will reach the so-called debt limit by November 3. These developments coupled with the recent surprise withdrawal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as candidate for House Speaker further complicate and likely delay budget negotiations that many hoped would be well underway at this point. Outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) may be forced to delay his retirement, originally scheduled for the…
Government Shutdown Averted, For Now
Congress was able to pass a continuing resolution (CR) on September 30, the final day of fiscal year (FY) 2015, within hours of a deadline that would result in a government shutdown. However, the CR simply kicks the can to December 11, the new deadline for coming to a final agreement on FY 2016 appropriations. While policymakers have provided themselves an additional 10 weeks to complete work on the annual spending bills, the path to the finish line remains unclear, complicated further by recent events like the announcement from House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) of his retirement at the end…
Advocates Call for Budget Deal as End of Fiscal Year Nears
One week out from the start of fiscal year (FY) 2016 and Congress has yet to decide on a path forward for funding the government that will not result in a government shutdown come October 1. A continuing resolution (CR) must be enacted in the next week to allow Congress the time it needs to complete the 12 outstanding FY 2016 appropriations bills. Language of a short term CR could surface in the Senate as early as today. Even still, with the arrival of Pope Francis in the nation’s capital this week and a short Congressional break to observe Yom…
Congress Returns for a Busy Fall
Following a month-long August recess, Congress returns to work this week to a full agenda of must-pass items. At the top of the list will be passing a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded and avert a shutdown come October 1. However, unrelated controversies dealing with Planned Parenthood and the Confederate flag will likely make the road to a CR difficult in the coming weeks. Assuming we get to October 1 without the government shutting down, the next big issue on the agenda is brokering some sort of deal to reverse or at least mitigate the impacts of…
FY 2016 Process Stalled as Congress Heads for Summer Break
Despite promises from Republican leaders in the House and Senate to pass fiscal year (FY) 2016 appropriations legislation through “regular order” this year, the FY 2016 process has stalled amid issues ranging from a policy rider pertaining to flying of the Confederate flag on federal grounds that killed the bills in the House and calls for the need to broker a larger budget deal. The House and Senate made some progress before the process sputtered out in recent weeks, with both chambers advancing all 12 of their bills through committee and the House managing to pass six of them; however,…