FY 2022 Appropriations Process Kicks Off with House Markups


July 2021

With the release of the Biden administration’s budget request in late May, congressional appropriations committees have been working on legislation to fund the government for FY 2022, beginning on October 1. On July 15, the House Appropriations Committee held markup hearings and advanced two bills that fund agencies that support the federal education research and statistical infrastructure. The committee moved the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-H) bill forward on a 33-25 vote. The Labor-H bill provides funding for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) bill, which includes funding for the National Science Foundation, advanced on a 33-26 vote.

Institute of Education Sciences

The House FY 2022 Labor-H bill includes $762.47 million for IES, an increase of 18.7 percent, or $120 million, over the FY 2021 amount of $642.47 million. This amount is also $25 million more than the robust proposal in the president’s budget of $737.47 million, accounting for funding directed toward the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) civics assessment to generate a large enough sample to report state-level results. The following table includes details for specific line items within IES.

Institute of Education Sciences (in millions)

 

FY 2021 Omnibus*

FY 2022 Budget Request

FY 2022 Request v. FY 2021 (%)

FY 2022 Request v. FY 2021 ($)

FY 2022 House

FY 2022 House v. FY 2021 Final
($)

FY 2022 House v. FY 2021 Final
(%)

Institute of Education Sciences

$642.5

$737.5

14.79%

$95.0

$762.5

$120.0

18.68%

Research, Development, and Dissemination

$197.9

$267.9

35.37%

$70.0

$260.9

$63.0

31.84%

Regional Educational Laboratories

$57.0

$57.0

0.00%

$0.0

$59.0

$2.0

3.51%

Statistics

$111.5

$111.5

0.00%

$0.0

$114.5

$3.0

2.69%

Assessment

$172.8

$187.8

8.68%

$15.0

$212.8

$40.0

23.15%

Statewide Data Systems

$33.5

$33.5

0.00%

$0.0

$34.5

$1.0

2.99%

Special Education Studies and Evaluations

$11.3

$21.3

88.32%

$10.0

$21.3

$10.0

88.32%

Research in Special Education

$58.5

$58.5

0.00%

$0.0

$59.5

$1.0

1.71%

*Excludes $28 million in supplemental funding from FY 2021 omnibus for NAEP and $100 million for IES in American Rescue Plan.

Beyond the additional funding for NAEP, there are slight differences between the president’s budget request and the House language, with the $7 million difference in the Research, Development, and Dissemination line accounted for in the House bill with increases across IES programs.

The report language directs the Department of Education to provide an update in the FY 2023 congressional justification “outlining how the Department will increase staffing at NCES as well as an analysis of funding for IES staff in an appropriations account outside of the Program Administration account.” The Department would also be required to submit a quarterly report on the status of implementing the staffing plan. The FY 2021 report language contained similar directives addressing the need for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to hire internal staff.

“We are grateful to Chair DeLauro for the generous increase for IES included in the FY 2022 Labor-H bill,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “We also deeply appreciate the ongoing efforts to continue to address the staffing crisis within NCES. The pandemic has made clear the need for timely and relevant education data. Without sufficient internal staff, NCES is constrained in its flexibility to pivot to address emerging data needs and apply innovative methods to data collection and dissemination. We look forward to continuing to work with her and her staff on this issue.”

National Science Foundation

The House FY 2022 CJS bill includes $9.63 billion for NSF, a 13.5 percent increase over the FY 2021 appropriated amount of $8.49 billion. The following table includes details for specific NSF programs

National Science Foundation (in millions)

 

FY 2021 Final*

FY 2022 Budget Request**

FY 2022 Request v. FY 2021 (%)

FY 2022 Request v. FY 2021
($)

FY 2022 House

FY 2022 House v. FY 2021 Final
($)

FY 2022 House v. FY 2021 Final
(%)

National Science Foundation

$8,486.8

$10,169.3

19.8%

$1,682.5

$9,634.0

$1,147.3

13.52%

Education and Human Resources

$968.0

$1,287.3

33.0%

$319.3

$1,274.3

$306.3

31.64%

Research and Related Activities

$6,909.8

$8,139.2

17.8%

$1,229.4

$7,695.7

$786.0

11.37%

*Excludes funding from the CARES Act ($76 million) and the American Rescue Plan ($600 million).
**The Education and Human Resources increase accounts for a proposed program increase and proposed consolidation of cross-agency funding for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program within EHR. Research and Related Activities includes funding for a new Technology, Innovations, and Partnerships Directorate

Within NSF, the bill would provide $1.27 billion for the Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate, representing an increase of 31.6 percent above the FY 2021 level. The report language endorses the proposed shift in the president’s budget request to consolidate the Graduate Research Fellowship Program in EHR, accounting for some of the additional funding.

The CJS bill includes nearly $7.7 billion for the Research and Related Agencies (R&RA) account, a boost of 11.3 percent over FY 2021. The CJS report language notes support for the proposed establishment of a new Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships in the president’s budget request. Funding for this directorate would be provided through the R&RA account. The report also includes support for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic (SBE) sciences Directorate at NSF and the application of findings from SBE in addressing national issues. In addition, the report language includes a directive to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics to “to undertake a study to identify, compile, and analyze existing nationwide data, and conduct survey research as necessary, to better understand the national cyber workforce.”

National Institutes of Health

The House FY 2022 Labor-H bill includes $49.4 billion for NIH, an increase of $6.5 billion over FY 2021. As part of overall NIH funding, $3 billion would be allocated to the establishment of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Health (ARPA-H). The amount for ARPA-H in the House bill is $3.5 billion below the amount in the president’s budget request. The following table provides details on specific funding within NIH.

National Institutes of Health (in billions)

 

FY 2021 Final

FY 2022 Budget Request**

FY 2022 Request v. FY 2021 (%)

FY 2022 Request v. FY 2021
($)

FY 2022 House

FY 2022 House v. FY 2021 Final
($)

FY 2022 House v. FY 2021 Final
(%)

National Institutes of Health

$42.9

$51.7

20.49%

$8.8

$49.4

$6.5

15.13%

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

$1.6

$1.9

22.14%

$0.4

$1.7

$0.1

6.29%

**The FY 2022 increase in the budget request incorporates moving the ECHO and INCLUDE programs to NICHD.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) would receive $1.69 billion in the House bill, an increase of nearly $100 million compared with FY 2021, though below the amount included in the president’s budget request. The report language notes the role that NICHD has historically had in supporting research related to learning outcomes, and encourages NICHD to fund research related to the impact of school closures in light of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and adolescents.

Within the NIH Office of the Director, the bill includes $49.8 million for the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, a boost of $20 million over the FY 2021 level.

The full House is expected to vote on the Labor-H bill during the week of July 26, with the possibility for the CJS bill to also be taken up that week. Prior to the release of the House CJS and Labor-H bills, AERA Executive Director Levine submitted testimony in June to the Senate CJS appropriations subcommittee on NSF and the Census Bureau, and to the Labor-H appropriations subcommittees on funding for IES and NIH.

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