• Home
  • House Appropriations Committee Approves FY 2023 Spending Bills
Newsletters

House Appropriations Committee Approves FY 2023 Spending Bills

7/01/2022
WIH

Earlier this week the House Appropriations Committee marked-up and passed several FY 2023 spending bills. House Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-NY) is pleased with the committee’s progress. Below is detailed information about the following FY 2023 appropriations bills: Labor-Health and Human Services-Education; Commerce-Justice-Science; and Energy and Water.

Read More

FY 2023 Labor-Health and Human Services- Education Appropriations

By a vote of 32-24, the House Appropriations Committee passed the FY 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which includes funding for the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institutes of Health. Specifically, the Committee approved an appropriation of $86.7 billion for the Department of Education, which is an increase of $10.3 billion over the FY 2022 enacted level of funding. Nearly $4 billion of that amount would be appropriated to higher education programs, which is $965 million over the FY 2022 enacted level of funding. The Committee- passed bill calls for an increase in federal investments in strengthening minority serving institutions, including the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans program, the Strengthening Historically Black Graduate Institutions program, and Strengthening Master’s Degree Programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The bill appropriates $1.3 billion for TRIO programs, which include the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program. Other notable programs include the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need program which received an appropriation of $24 million. This is an increase of $500,000. The Child Care Access Means Parents in School program fared better, with an appropriation of $95 million, which is an increase of $30 million over the FY 2022 enacted level.

For FY 2023 the Committee recommended the following levels of funding:

  • Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions: $246.7 million, which is an increase of $63.8 million over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans: $28.8 million
  • Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities: $402.6 million, which is an increase of $39.8 million over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • Strengthening Historically Black Graduate Institutions: $102.3 million, which is $9.1 million over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • Strengthening HBCU Masters Program: $20.9 million, which is an increase of $6 million over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • Title VI and Fulbright-Hays (International Education and Studies): $88.7 million, which is an increase of $7 million over the FY 2022 enacted level.

The committee report addressed the issue of graduate student loan debt as well. The report says, “According to the fiscal year 2023 budget request, excluding consolidations, graduate student loans are expected to make up over 47 percent of new Federal student loan originations in fiscal year 2023. This portion is significantly up from the 34 percent of new loan originations graduate student debt represented in fiscal year 2014.”

The Committee-passed bill also included $46 billion for the National Institutes of Health and $2.7 billion for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). While this level of funding for ARPA-H is consistent with FY 2022 enacted levels, it is well below the $5 billion the Administration requested in its FY 2023 Budget Request. Following the passage of the bill, Ad hoc for Medical Research released a statement applauding the Committee for its support of NIH.

FY 2023 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations

By a vote of 31-24, the House Appropriations Committee passed the FY 2023 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The Committee approved $9.6 billion for the National Science Foundation, a 9 percent increase but far from the $11 billion requested by CGS and the higher education and scientific communities. In its report, the Committee highlighted its continued support for basic research in fundamental science areas and recognized the need for NSF to make continued investments in large scientific facilities and research infrastructure. The Committee also recognized the official transfer of the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) from the Research and Related Activities Directorate to the newly renamed STEM Education Directorate. While the Committee-passed bill includes an increase in funding for the Research and Related Activities Directorate and level funding for the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction Directorate, it calls for $1.25 billion in funding for the STEM Education Directorate. This is an increase of $244 million over the FY 2022 enacted level.

For FY 2023 the Committee recommended the following levels of funding for STEM Education:

  • CyberCorps Scholarships for Service: $74 million, an increase of $11 million over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • Graduate Research Fellowships Program: $320 million, an increase of 30 million over the FY 2022 enacted level.
  • Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate: $10 million
  • Centers for Research Excellence in Science and Technology: $28.5 million

FY 2023 Energy and Water Appropriations

By a vote of 32-24, the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2023 Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The Committee-passed bill funds the Department of Energy’s Office of Science at $8 billion which is $525 million over the FY 2022 enacted funding level. This level of funding is below the amount that CGS and the broader higher education and scientific communities requested for the Office of Science. The Committee also approved $550 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy (ARPA-E).

Department of Commerce Announces Academic Outreach Initiative

The Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement recently announced the Academic Research Initiative, which aims to help U.S. universities protect themselves against the theft of sensitive research products by foreign agents. During a speech at the Annual Meeting of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA), Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod addressed the national security risk that foreign adversaries pose to U.S. academic research institutions. Following his remarks at the NACUA conference, a memorandum to Department of Commerce employees was released that outlined the four major elements of the Academic Research Initiative.

Below are the four major elements:

  • The Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement will identify and strategically prioritize academic research institutions whose work gives them an elevated risk profile. These are institutions that have ties to foreign universities that are on the Entity List; are involved in research and development for the U.S. Department of Defense; or are conducting research in sensitive technologies subject to Export Administration Regulations.
  • The Office of Export Enforcement will offer and assign outreach agents to academic research institutions to help with the prevention of unauthorized exports.
  • Export Enforcement recognizes that U.S. academic research institutions often benefit from strong working relationships and partnerships with foreign university partners. When appropriate, outreach agencies will engage and communicate known national security risks associated with foreign university partners.
  • Outreach agents will offer trainings to academic research institutions on how export controls apply in academic settings and the national security threat facing institutions.

For more information on this initiative, please read the Inside Higher Ed article, “U.S. Plans to Help Universities Protect Security of Research.”

Bipartisan Innovation Act Conference Update

For more than a month, the Joint House-Senate Conference Committee for the Bipartisan Innovation Act has worked behind the scenes to reconcile the differences between the Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness Act and the House-passed America COMPETES bills. Congressional leaders gave the conference until July to complete conference committee negotiations. According to media reports, the conference committee has slimmed-down the bill by removing labor, climate, and trade provisions from the America COMPETES Act from the final conference bill. High-skilled immigration provisions have also been removed from consideration in a final bill.

While conference committee negotiations continue, a bipartisan bill was recently introduced in the House of Representatives. Representatives Haley Stevens (D-MI), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Michael Waltz (R-FL), and Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) introduced the Creating Helpful Initiatives to Produce Personnel in Needed Growth Industries, or the CHIPPING Act (H.R. 8251). This bill seeks to build a strong and diverse semiconductor chip workforce. The bill would allow the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish traineeship programs for graduate students who pursue microelectronics research. Award funds would go to institutions of higher education or non-profit organizations and funds would be used for tuition and fees and stipends for students receiving traineeships. As well as facilitating opportunities for internship programs. The bill also encourages the NSF Director to increase opportunities for microelectronics research for students in existing programs. A press release and text of the bill can be found here.

NSF Research Traineeship Program Update

The National Science Foundation announced 22 new awards for the Research Traineeship program. The program provides research-based master’s and doctoral degree students the training they need to develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of STEM careers. The $58 million in new awards will focus on research and development in artificial intelligence and quantum information science and engineering. The new awards are funded through appropriations as well as the American Rescue Plan Act and EPSCoR.

Letter to Veterans Affairs Committees Regarding 85-15 Rule

Last week, 15 organizations including CGS sent a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees regarding the 85-15 rule. Earlier this year, legislation was introduced to ensure that veterans can continue to enroll in quality programs of their choosing despite policy changes to the 85-15 rule by the Department of Veterans Affairs. We write in the letter, “Without this critical fix, institutions will be forced to deny veterans from enrolling in certain programs at their campuses, and in some cases, may be forced to turn them away entirely.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs has also announced the opportunity for public comment on the Yellow Ribbon Program. The program allows institutions of higher learning to voluntarily enter into an agreement with VA to commit to contributing towards the outstanding amount of tuition and fees not otherwise covered under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.