Government Relations & Washington Update
July 2024
House Appropriations Subcommittees Advance Several FY 2025 Appropriations Bills
The month of June saw significant movement within the House Appropriations Committee to advance several of the fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills. The House has indicated its intention to complete its work on the 13 annual appropriations bills in July and begin moving the legislation to the House floor prior to the August recess. The Senate Appropriations Committee also plans to conduct mark-ups of its versions of appropriations bills in July, starting with Agriculture, Military Construction and Legislative Branch bills on July 11th.
Below are summaries of select appropriations bills approved by House subcommittees that have implications for economic research across various federal agencies:
Agriculture
The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides a total discretionary allocation of $25.873 billion, which is $355 million (1.35%) below the Fiscal Year 2024 enacted level and $2.688 billion (9.4%) below the President’s Budget Request.
- $85,612,000 for the Economic Research Service (ERS), which is $5 million below the FY24 level.
- $187,513,000 for the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), which is the same level as FY24.
- $1.794 billion for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), which is $5.8 million above the FY24 enacted program level. o Includes increases for high-priority initiatives and addresses emerging pests and diseases.
- $1.674 billion for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), which is $5 million below the FY24 enacted level. o Includes level funding for programs that support land-grant universities and reduces funding for several low-priority research programs.
- $31,025,000 for the Office of the Chief Economist, $500,000 above the FY24 level. $10,225,000 of this amount shall be for grants or cooperative agreements for policy research.
Only the bill language is currently available. Detailed program levels will be available when the accompanying report is released, likely when the full committee considers the bill on July 10th.
Commerce, Justice and Science
The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides a total discretionary allocation of $78.288 billion, which is effectively $1.275 billion (2%) below the Fiscal Year 2024 spending level.
- Dept. of Commerce - Economic and Statistical Analysis: Provides $116 million for Economic and Statistical Analysis, which is $9 million (7%) below the FY24 enacted level and $22.500 million below the President’s Budget Request.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology: Provides $1.415 billion for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is $45 million (3%) below the FY24 enacted level and $83.5 million below the President’s Budget Request.
- Office of Science and Technology Policy: Provides $5.544 million for the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), which is $2.421 million (30%) below the FY24 enacted level and $2.421 million below the President’s Budget Request.
- National Science Foundation: Provides $9.258 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF), which is $198.640 million (2%) above the FY24 enacted level and $924.360 million below the President’s Budget Request.
Labor-Health & Human Services
The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides a total discretionary allocation of $185.8 billion, which is $8.6 billion (4%) below the Fiscal Year 2024 enacted score, $23.8 billion (11%) below the Fiscal Year 2024 effective spending level, and $36.2 billion (15%) below the President’s Budget Request.
- Provides $48 billion to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is equal to the FY24 enacted level. Proposes the largest restructuring of the NIH in a generation, consolidating 27 centers into 15.
Energy & Water Development
The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides a total discretionary allocation of $59.190 billion, which is $999 million (1.7%) above the Fiscal Year 2024 enacted level and $139 million (-0.2%) below the President’s Budget Request including emergency amounts requested.
- Department of Energy Office of Science - $8.39 billion, which is $150 million above the FY24 enacted level.
- Maintains support for the world’s two fastest computers and develops the next generation of computing capabilities.
- Advances fusion energy sciences to bring fusion to the electric grid.
- Increases operations for experimental user facilities.
- Enhances the National Laboratories, the pipeline of foundational research.
- $1.96 billion for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), which is $1.5 billion below the FY24 enacted level and $1.9 billion below the President’s Budget Request after accounting for budget structure changes.
- $450 million for ARPA-E, which is $10 million below the FY24 enacted level and equal to the President’s Budget Request, to transform the energy economy by advancing high-risk, high-reward energy technologies.
Interior and Environment
The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides a total discretionary allocation of $38.478 billion, which is $72 million (0.2%) below the Fiscal Year 2024 enacted level and $4.407 billion (10%) below the President’s Budget Request.
- EPA Science and Technology: Provides $522.5 million for Science and Technology, which is $235.6 million (31%) below the FY24 enacted level and $487.5 million below the President’s Budget Request.