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June 3, 2019
House Spending Bills Boost Science Funding: Part 2
Before leaving for the Memorial Day recess, the House Committee on Appropriations finished consideration of the major science funding bills. We reviewed several spending bills already in part one of our budget breakdown. In this post, we’ll take a deeper dive into the spending bill that funds the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) …
House Spending Bills Boost Science Funding: Part 1
Before leaving for the Memorial Day recess, the House Committee on Appropriations finished consideration of the major science funding bills, including the spending bills that fund the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Department of Energy, United States Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the United States Forest Service. Over the next two posts, we’ll detail the spending and programmatic highlights for federal Earth and space science agencies. …
March 29, 2019
Sequestration is back; and science funding is in jeopardy.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) required Congress to find ways to cut the deficit by capping funding for non-defense, including science, and defense programs. Congress never came to an agreement on ways to cut the deficit and therefore automatic across the board cuts for government spending, or sequestration, were invoked. Sequestration was supposed to be so bad that Congress would be forced to reach an agreement. Under the BCA, FY2020 defense …
June 27, 2018
Science Spending Bills Ready for Votes
Appropriations: Part 3 All spending bills for the Earth and space science agencies are in play right now! The House and Senate Appropriations Committees each passed their own version of funding legislation for NASA, NOAA, NSF, USGS, EPA, and DOE. Now, the full House and Senate must vote on the bills. The House and Senate have both passed their versions of the fiscal year (FY) 2019 Energy and Water Bill (which funds DOE) as part …
May 24, 2018
House Spending Bill: Support for Science Agencies Not Across the Board
Appropriations: Part 1 The appropriations process is so far following a more conventional timeline this year as opposed to last year’s drawn-out deals. On 17 May (compared with 13 July last year), the House Appropriations committee approved the fiscal year 2019 (FY 2019) Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill, which funds NASA, NOAA, and NSF. The bill continues to grow funding for NASA and NSF over FY2018 levels. However, NOAA funding takes a …
January 24, 2018
More Continuing Resolutions, More Negotiations
On Monday, Congress passed a new continuing resolution (CR), ending the second government shutdown in five years. The current CR marks the fourth short term spending bill in fiscal year (FY) 2018 and only funds the government through 8 February. While Congress was able to pass a bipartisan spending bill that ensures that our federal science agencies can currently provide the information and services that protect our local communities, there …
September 28, 2017
5 Things to Know about the Current State of Science Funding
Sequestration (a.k.a. Major Government Cuts) Kicks-In in January The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) required Congress to find ways to cut the deficit by capping funding for non-defense, including science, and defense programs. Congress never came to an agreement on ways to cut the deficit and therefore automatic across the board cuts for government spending, or sequestration, were invoked. Sequestration was supposed to be so bad that Congress would be forced to …
September 19, 2017
AGU sends letter regarding workforce cuts at DOE
Last week, in response to reports† indicating that the Department of Energy (DOE) has approved plans to reduce the workforce at national laboratories, specifically Oak Ridge and Brookhaven National Laboratories, in accordance with the President’s budget, AGU sent a letter to DOE Secretary Rick Perry urging him to reconsider making such drastic workforce cuts unless directed to by Congress, which has the final say on federal spending. AGU let Secretary …
July 31, 2017
Science Does Slightly Better in Senate Spending Bills
Appropriations Update Part 3: Now that the House Appropriations Committee has considered and passed all 12 appropriations bills, the Senate Appropriations Committee has begun considering and passing their appropriations bills in earnest. Overall, science fared okay in the Senate spending bills we have seen so far, and the drastic cuts proposed in the President’s budget request were nowhere to be seen. Here’s a recap of the Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill for fiscal year 2018 …
July 18, 2017
House Rejects Trump’s Budget, but Still Cuts Science
Appropriations Update: Part 2 Leaders in the House of Representatives have directed the Appropriations Committee to introduce and consider all 12 appropriations bills before the chamber breaks for August recess. Overall, science fared poorly in the House spending bills, although most agencies did not receive the drastic cuts proposed by the President’s budget request. Here’s a recap of the Energy and Water spending bill, which includes funding for the Department …
