#  Federal Update: Congress Releases Final FY18 Omnibus Funding bill  

 





March 22, 2018

 

 

 Bringing to an end the drawn-out negotiations over FY18 federal funding, Congressional leaders released a final omnibus-spending bill late Wednesday. The package allocates $1.3 trillion in FY18 funding across all government accounts and, on account of Congress’s agreement last month to eliminate the sequester, provides big increases for defense, as well as boosts to a number of University priorities, including a significant $3 billion increase for NIH.

 The omnibus also includes a few additional policy riders, such as a short term FAA reauthorization, but not as many as expected given this must-pass bill was targeted by many as a vehicle for other issues. More details are below on funding levels and other key issues, as is a look ahead.

Sort    

  **Final FY17**

 

  **Final FY18**

 

  **FY18 v. FY17**

 

      **Labor-HHS-Education**

 

  

  

  

    NIH

 

  34084

 

  37084

 

  8.8%

 

    Pell Grants (Discretionary Funding)

 

  22475

 

  22475

 

  0.0%

 

    Pell Grants (Max Grant)

 

  5920.0

 

  6095

 

  3.0%

 

    Work Study

 

  989.7

 

  1130

 

  14.2%

 

    SEOG

 

  733.1

 

  840

 

  14.6%

 

    TRIO

 

  950

 

  1010

 

  6.3%

 

    GEAR UP

 

  340

 

  350

 

  2.9%

 

    Title VI

 

  72.2

 

  72.2

 

  0.0%

 

    GAANN

 

  28

 

  23

 

  -17.9%

 

    Institute of Education Sciences

 

  605.3

 

  613.5

 

  1.4%

 

    Institute of Museum and Library Services

 

  231

 

  240

 

  3.9%

 

    **Commerce-Justice-Science**

 

  

  

  

    NSF -Total

 

  7472

 

  7767.4

 

  4.0%

 

    NSF- Research and Related

 

  6034

 

  6334.5

 

  5.0%

 

    NSF - Major Research Equipment

 

  209

 

  182.8

 

  -12.5%

 

    NSF - Ed & HR

 

  880

 

  902

 

  2.5%

 

    NASA -Total

 

  19653

 

  20736.1

 

  5.5%

 

    NASA - Science

 

  5765

 

  6221.5

 

  7.9%

 

    NASA - Aeronautics

 

  660

 

  685

 

  3.8%

 

    NASA - Education

 

  100

 

  100

 

  0.0%

 

    **Defense**

 

  

  

  

    6.1 Basic Research

 

  2276.3

 

  2343.2

 

  2.9%

 

    6.2 Applied Research

 

  5296.2

 

  5681.8

 

  7.3%

 

    DARPA

 

  2889

 

  3071.6

 

  6.3%

 

    **Energy and Water**

 

  

  

  

    Office of Science - Total

 

  5390

 

  6259.9

 

  16.1%

 

    High Energy Physics

 

  825

 

  908

 

  10.1%

 

    Nuclear Physics

 

  522

 

  586.8

 

  12.4%

 

    Basic Energy Sciences

 

  1681.5

 

  1744.9

 

  3.8%

 

    Biological and Envir. Research

 

  612

 

  673

 

  10.0%

 

    ARPA-E

 

  306.0

 

  353.3

 

  15.5%

 

    **Interior**

 

  

  

  

    NEA

 

  149.8

 

  152.8

 

  2.0%

 

    NEH

 

  149.8

 

  152.8

 

  2.0%

 

 



 Leadership is pushing hard for the bill to move quickly through the House and Senate, given the current continuing resolution expires on Friday, March 23. The House will likely vote on the measure today. Senate consideration is less clear since all members will need to agree to waive certain time requirements for the bill to be completed before Friday’s deadline. It may be that there is a short weekend shutdown or another very short CR to bridge the few days needed to complete legislative action.

 As is often the case with must-pass spending bills, the omnibus addresses a number of policy areas beyond funding, including priorities the University has encouraged Congress to consider. Perhaps most notably, the package includes new language prohibiting the Administration from establishing damaging limits on facilities and administrative cost reimbursements on NIH grants, as was proposed by the President last year. In another win for the scientific community – this time for what the omnibus does not include – the package does not contain language that would ban the use of fetal tissue in research. Such language had previously passed the House.

 Also left behind as too controversial were provisions to address DACA and potential fixes to the tax reform bill, with the exception of one to address an issue with farming cooperatives. The University will continue to advocate for DREAMers as well as for improvements in the tax bill as the year goes on, though with attention on the Hill quickly turning to the midterm elections, opportunities are increasingly limited until the lame duck session.

 **Looking Ahead**

 The FY19 budget and appropriations process is already underway with hearings on the Hill, even as the FY18 process just now wraps up. Even so, it is unlikely that any appropriations work for the coming year will be finalized until after the November elections, meaning the new fiscal year will almost certainly begin with a continuing resolution on October 1 that runs until sometime into late November or, more likely, December. In the meantime, with control of the House potentially up for grabs this election year, it is more probable that Congress will spend more of its time and energy in the coming months on political messaging and posturing than legislative work.

 **Contact**

 We will be back in touch when the omnibus passes, as expected. As always, please feel free to reach out to Suzanne Day ([suzanne\_day@harvard.edu](mailto:///suzanne_day@harvard.edu)) or Jon Groteboer ([jon\_groteboer@harvard.edu](mailto:///jon_groteboer@harvard.edu)) with any questions or concerns.



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Budget and Appropriations ](/issues/budget-appropriations)
- [ Washington Updates ](/news-source/washington-update)
 
 

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