President Biden released a ‘skinny’ version of his budget on March 9.
[Full budget here] | [See the FABBS Science Funding Dashboard here]
While details are still being released, here’s what we have seen as far as funding for our disciplines:
- NSF: $11.3 billion (18.61% increase over FY 23)
- NIH: $48.3 billion (1.70 % increase)
- ARPA-H: $2.5 billion (66.67% increase)
- IES: $870.9 million (7.80% increase)
FABBS commends the significant increase to the NSF budget, yet notes that the recommendation for NIH falls well short of the community request.
FABBS Executive Director had the opportunity to attend the White House OSTP budget release, focusing on NSF, NIST, and ARPA-H. NSF director, Dr. Panchanathan, called the social, behavioral and economics sciences “the most important” disciplines when speaking about opportunities for the new Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) directorate. Additionally, ARPA-H director, Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, called for innovations in the behavioral and social sciences.
Now that the president’s budget has been released, and Congress has key appropriations leadership in place, members of Congress are focused on passing the 12 appropriation bills. Many Republicans have already criticized Biden’s budget – calling for cuts- causing tensions and an inevitable spending fight about the debt limit. The divided Congress and slim majorities in both the House and Senate have the science community bracing for, yet another, continuing resolution.
Advocacy will be integral in the process. FABBS is working on developing relationships with new members and staff as well as strengthening existing relationships through visits with staffers on key committees.
FABBS has signed onto multiple letters advocating for the federal science agencies that fund our disciplines. We will be updating the links in the below list as the letters finalize.
- Ad Hoc Group for Medical Funding ($50.924 billion)
- Friends of Institute of Education Sciences ($900 million)
- Friends of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) ($500 million)
- Friends of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) ($215 million)
- Coalition for National Science Funding (House, Senate) ($11.9 billion)
- LHHS Subcommittee 302b Allocation Letter ($226.8 billion)
- Friends of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development ($1.877 billion)
- Gun Violence Prevention Research ($35 million for the CDC, $25 million for the NIH, and $1 million for the NIJ)
- Research, Evaluation, and Statistics account within the Department of Justice budget ($135 million)
