Late yesterday, House and Senate appropriators released a $1.012 trillion omnibus funding bill for FY14 that provides defined spending levels and program priorities for the current fiscal year. The legislation was made possible by the Murray-Ryan lead bipartisan budget measure that passed in December and opens the door to restoring some level of order to the federal budget process over the next year.

While we are still combing through the details of the massive package, generally, as expected, the bill offers small funding increases over last year’s post-sequester funding for accounts important to the higher education and research community. However, it does not make up all the ground lost to sequester, and despite some of the increases outlined below, it is important to note that those positive percentage changes are off of FY13 baselines that were considerably reduced due to last year’s full implementation of the sequester. Highlights from some key accounts include:

National Institutes of Health  - funded at $29.9 billion in the omnibus, $749 million – or 2.5% – above FY13 spending levels with sequester. However, in comparison to the FY13 level after transfers, the NIH actually gets a boost of 3.5%, or $1 billion.

Some other notable aspects of the bill regarding NIH funding include $100 million for Alzheimer’s research, which is $20 million above the President’s request. The new BRAIN initiative received $30 million, or $70 million less than President Obama’s ask from Congress. Additionally, language was included in the omnibus that maintains all current STEM programs at the NIH that were previously proposed to be eliminated in the President’s government-wide consolidation initiative.

National Science Foundation – funded at $7.2 billion, which is 4.2% above the sequester-adjusted FY13 level of $6.8 billion.

Within the NSF, appropriations for notable accounts were as follows:

• Research and Related – received a 4.6% boost over its sequester-adjusted FY13 appropriation of $5.5 billion to end up at $5.8 billion in the bipartisan bill.
• Major Research Equipment and Facilities – received $200 million in the recent bill, marking a 2% funding increase over FY13 after sequester.
• Education and Human Resources  – funded at $846.5 million, or $13.2 million above its FY13 sequester level.

NASA – funded at $17.6 billion, or 5% above its post-sequester FY13 appropriation of $16.7 billion.

Within NASA’s overall appropriation, notable accounts were funded as follows:

• Science -  received $5.2 billion, or 7.8% more than its sequester-adjusted FY13 level of $4.7 billion
• Aeronautics – funded at $566 million, a 6.1% increase from sequester-adjusted FY13 levels of $531 million
• Education – received $116 million, which is about the same as its FY13 post-sequester level

 Department of Energy –notable accounts received boosts, including:

• Office of Science – funded at $5.071 billion, or 9.1% above its sequester-adjusted appropriation of $4.6 billion
• ARPA – E – funded at $280 million, or 10% above its post-sequester level of $251 million

Department of Education - notable programs were appropriated at the following levels:

• Pell (max grant) – $5,730/student, or a $115 increase for low-income students from the FY13 max
• Work Study – funded at $974 million, a 4.9% increase from FY13
• SEOG – funded at $733 million, or 5% more than in FY13

National Endowment for the Humanities –funded at $146 million, or 5.1% more than its sequester adjust level of $138.8 million

The bill is expected to be considered and approved by both the House on Wednesday and in the Senate later in the week, before the current temporary funding bill expires. The budget process will then quickly turn to FY15. Unlike past years, where many months of the budget process are spent debating the top line – sometimes without ever reaching agreement – the size of the FY15 pie has already been set through the Murray-Ryan deal. The agreed-upon top line therefore provides lawmakers an opportunity to turn straight to debating their priorities for the year, which is a favorable starting position for issues like education and research. As Congress moves forward and details continue to emerge, we will be back in touch with additional information. In the meantime, if you would like to see in greater detail how the omnibus funding compares to funding levels of the recent past, please click here.

Contact

Please feel free to contact Suzanne Day or Jon Groteboer in Harvard’s Office of Federal Relations (at 202 863-1292) should you have questions or concerns.