May 12, 2022
After significant delays in passing government funding legislation for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22), Congressional appropriators are now busy crafting FY23 spending bills. Bipartisan meetings have already begun, and leaders have expressed optimism that Congress will complete work on FY23 funding before the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
Senators Patrick Leahy and Richard Shelby, the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee respectively, have each announced their retirement after this year. Coupled with questions about the makeup of Congress following upcoming midterm elections, this may provide additional motivation to successfully complete the budgeting process. Leahy told reporters, “I think everybody would be pleased to come in on Jan. 3 and know you’ve got a clean slate and you start preparing for the next year.”
FABBS works in coalition with the broad scientific community to set annual funding requests for key federal science agencies. We contribute to letters to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leadership, meet with key Members of Congress, and submit written testimonies in support of funding for the brain and behavioral sciences. FABBS is also monitoring committee hearings to report as Appropriators hear from Executive Branch officials about the FY23 budget.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
As a member of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research and the Coalition for Health Funding, FABBS asked appropriators to ensure at least $49 billion for NIH in FY22 .
FABBS has partnered with colleagues at our member societies to ensure continued support for the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at NIH. We successfully secured a $9 million increase to the office’s baseline budget in FY22, and are working to ensure this level of funding continues in FY23.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
As a co-chair of the Coalition for National Science Funding, FABBS requested at least $11 billion for NSF in FY23. FABBS staff have met with Congressional staff to encourage support for strong funding in FY23.
FABBS is grateful to the offices of Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Rep. William McKinley (R-WV) for leading a Dear Colleague letter supporting NSF. This letter, signed by 161 Members of the House of Representatives and sent to their colleagues on the Appropriations Committee, communicates widespread support for providing $11 billion for NSF in FY23. We appreciated the opportunity to support their efforts and thank them for consistently being champions for NSF on Capitol Hill.
Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
As a member of the Friends of IES, FABBS called for at least $815 million for IES in FY23.
IES recently commissioned a report on the future of education research from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). The recommendations provide an ambitious path forward for the agency; however, the report finds that IES requires additional funding to meet these goals. FABBS will continue to work to educate Members of Congress on the value of sustained support for the critical research and infrastructure funded by IES.
Subcommittee Allocations
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are divided into 12 subcommittees, each of which has jurisdiction over certain federal agencies. Each subcommittee is allotted an overall funding level to distribute among the agencies for which it is responsible.
In addition to specific agency funding requests, FABBS joins with the larger advocacy community to support strong “302(b) allocations.” FABBS signed letters supporting the allocations for the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee and the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Subcommittee. Respectively, these subcommittees are responsible for funding NSF, and NIH and IES.
Securing sufficient subcommittee allocations is a critical step that allows appropriators to provide adequate funding for competing priorities without pitting one against another.
