Inside (the Beltway) Scoop

By: Ellen Kuo
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
302(b) Allocations Provided to Appropriations Subcommittees for FY 2024

In late January, Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray and House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger provided the final 302(b) allocations to their 12 subcommittees for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Over the next four to five weeks, subcommittee staff will be working to complete the bills before March 1 when four of the spending bills will no longer be funded and March 8 for the remaining eight. How the House Republican negotiators will deal with policy riders that are not popular with Democrats is still unknown as these bills are being written. Provisions on abortion; diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and transgender care will be some of those policy riders that are politically charged.

Science policy advocates are awaiting the final topline funding number for FY 2024 for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Currently, advocates are bracing for numbers that are similar to the FY 2023 amounts. Possible supplemental funding could be attached to each of the funding bills, which could ease cuts in the base bills. For example, in FY 2023, NSF saw an increase of nearly $1 billion to the base amount of $8.83 billion through a supplemental provision allowing NSF to reach a total of $9.9 billion. Of the extra funding provided, $335 million of the funds went to CHIPS implementation and another $702.6 million for non-CHIPS activity at NSF. The $702.6 million was broken down into $610.6 million for the research and related activities account and $92 million to the STEM education account.

As Congress races to complete work on the FY 2024 spending bills, the White House is preparing to release President Biden’s FY 2025 budget request. Officials at the Office of Management and Budget announced that the president’s budget will be released on March 11.