November 2, 2021
Some Science Spending Survives Reconciliation Bill Pruning
Last week, House Democrats introduced a new version of their partisan reconciliation bill just after the White House released its framework for slimming down the House’s initial $3.5 trillion, multiyear legislation to around $1.75 trillion. Some lawmakers are pushing for a vote on the measure this week, in conjunction with the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which includes about $500 billion in new spending, but others are pushing for additional changes. The new reconciliation bill retains many science priority areas laid out in the original House bill at reduced spending levels:
NSF in Reconciliation
- The National Science Foundation would receive $3.5 billion, of which $1.5 billion is for standing up the agency’s proposed Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships directorate. Of the remainder, $500 million is dedicated to climate research and another $500 million is for infrastructure. The original bill included $11 billion for NSF and did not allocate a specific amount for the new directorate.
