Congress Begins Work on FY 2023 Appropriations Bills

In the last week, the House of Representatives has started its work on the fiscal year 2023 appropriations process. The House Commerce-Justice- Science, the Labor-HHS-Education, and Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittees marked-up their respective appropriations bills. The full House Appropriations Committee will mark-up these and other appropriations bills next week.

The Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill includes funding for several research agencies, including the National Science Foundation. For FY 2023, the subcommittee approved an appropriation of $9.6 billion, which is an increase of $546 million over the FY 2022 enacted level of funding. The subcommittee-passed funding level includes, $7.7 billion for the Research and Related Activities Directorate and $1.25 billion for the STEM Education Directorate, which was formerly known as the Education and Human Resources Directorate. While this is a marked increase in funding for NSF, it is well below the requested level of funding supported by the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF). CGS and other members of CNSF are requesting at least $11 billion in funding for NSF in fiscal year 2023.

The Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill includes funding for the Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. The subcommittee approved an appropriation of $88.7 billion for the Department of Education. This is an increase of $10.3 billion above the FY 2022 enacted level of funding. Nearly $4 billion of that would go to higher education programs, which is $965 million over the FY 2022 enacted level of funding. Higher education programs that benefit graduate education include, Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans, Strengthening Historically Black Graduate Institutions, and Strengthening Master’s Degree Programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. It also includes International Education and Foreign Language Studies programs, the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement program, Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need, and Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program. The CCAMPIS program received a proposed $95 million, $30 million more than FY 2022 enacted amount and consistent with the Administration’s FY 2023 budget request. It is important to note that the subcommittee-passed bill includes provisions that would increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $7,395, which is a $500 increase from FY 2022 funding levels. Moreover, the bill includes a provision that would allow students with temporary protected status, such as Dreamers, to be eligible for student financial assistance, including federal student loans.

The Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee approved $8 billion for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. This is an increase of $525 million above the FY 2022 enacted level of funding. This level of funding is slightly less than the requested $8.8 billion made by the Energy Sciences Coalition (ESC). CGS is a member of ESC and supports the $8.8 billion level of funding for the Office of Science.