In Brief
Temperatures in Washington, DC are rising just as Appropriators kick off hearings for FY23
Appropriators Commence Hearings on FY23
While House and Senate Leadership have yet to finalize negotiations on topline spending numbers for fiscal year (FY) 2023, that hasn’t stopped appropriations subcommittees from beginning work. Hearings have started in the House and Senate on the President’s proposed budget recommendations for FY23. A recurring concern that continues to echo in the Labor, Health and Human Services subcommittees hearings thus far is the disastrously imbalanced request for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While on paper the NIH is slated to see an increase of approximately 7%, raising the overall appropriation from $45.959 billion iin FY22 to $48.957 billion in FY23. However, with the creation of the newly minted Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) the entirety of the proposed new funds, plus additional funds from existing Institutes are being directed toward the new agency.
Committee Chairs and Ranking Members in the House and Senate expressed unanimous concerns about the plans to establish ARPA-H coming at the expense of NIH base funding and established mission. Under the proposed scenario the National Cancer Institute would see the largest cut at approximately $199 million, while the other Institutes would be ‘flat funded’ or left at current funding levels or experience negligible increases. While BPS supports new pathways and proposals for new research opportunities, we strongly oppose it coming at the expense of established agencies and the funding of basic and biomedical research. BPS has requested funding of at least $49.048 billion for NIH, independent of any appropriation for ARPA-H.
Senators Review NSF Requests
National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Sethuraman Panchanathan testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee May 3 to defend the agency’s budget request for fiscal year 2023. The Biden administration is seeking to boost NSF’s budget by nearly 20% to $10.5 billion, largely to expand climate and clean energy research, STEM workforce diversity initiatives, and the agency’s fledgling Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships. BPS is supporting an appropriation of $11 billion for NSF in FY23.
Science Committee Seeks Higher Budgets for DOE Facilities
At a hearing held at the end of April both Democratic and Republican members of the House Science Committee roundly criticized the Biden administration for requesting a 4% budget increase for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science even as it seeks far larger increases elsewhere in the department. They particularly lamented the consequences for science facility construction projects, arguing that stagnant budgets would result in stretched-out schedules and higher overall project costs. BPS is supporting an overall request of $8.8 billion for the Office of Science.