Congress reveals final 2022 budget midway through year

More than five months into the fiscal year, Congress has finally proposed a full budget for FY 2022. While the legislation has not passed both chambers as of this writing, the discretionary spending provisions are expected to remain unchanged. Few programs received as much funding as the House proposed in its appropriations bills last summer, but science and innovation initiatives generally received at least some additional funding. Highlights include: an additional $10.5 million for the SSTI Innovation Advocacy Council’s three priority programs; approval for the National Science Foundation to implement a technology directorate and new Regional Innovation Accelerator program; and, the creation of a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health.

As of the morning of March 10, the House has passed both the omnibus described in this article and a four-day continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government until March 15. The Senate does not have time to debate either bill before funding expires at the end of March 11, but observers hope that any senators upset with the budget will object only to the omnibus, allowing the CR to move forward and avoiding a short-term shutdown. The Senate is not expected to make changes to the omnibus, which would therefore go to the president’s desk after passing the chamber.

SSTI is still reviewing FY 2022 appropriations, which cover more than 2,700 pages of legislative text and approximately 2,000 pages of explanatory reports. Funding levels for priority science and innovation programs, as well as additional highlights, are below.

This story may be updated with additional information over the coming weeks.

Economic Development Administration

• Programmatic funding — $330 million (FY 2021: $305.5 million)
  • Build to Scale — $45 million (FY 2021: $38 million)
  • STEM Talent Challenge — $2 million (FY 2021: $2 million)

Small Business Administration

• Regional Innovation Clusters — $8 million (FY 2021: $6 million) — Congress also encourages the agency to reconsider its decision not to allow nonprofits and universities to compete in the last funding round and to report to the appropriations committee on its eligibility plans before the next competition.
• Federal and State Technology Partnership — $6 million (FY 2021: $4 million)
• Growth Accelerators Fund Competition — $3 million (FY 2021: $2 million)

National Institute of Standards and Technology

• Total funding — $1.2 billion (FY 2021: $1.0 billion)
  • Manufacturing Extension Partnership — $158 million (FY 2021: $150 million)
  • Manufacturing USA — $16.5 million (FY 2021: $16.5 million)

National Science Foundation

• Total funding — $8.8 billion (FY 2021: $8.5 billion)
  • Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships — amounts not specified (new) — The budget acknowledges the new directorate, without specifying a funding level, as a resource to build upon and consolidate existing programs in pursuit of research leading to “breakthrough” technologies, solutions to societal challenges, global competitiveness and a diverse STEM workforce.
  • Regional Innovation Accelerators — amounts not specified (new) — The budget supports the creation of this new program and encourages NSF to make at least one award this fiscal year.

Department of Agriculture

• Rural Innovation Stronger Economy — $2 million (FY 2021: $5 million)
• Agricultural Research Service — $1.8 billion (FY 2021: $1.5 billion)

Department of Defense

• Research, Development, Test and Evaluation — $119 billion (FY 2021: $107 billion)
• Defense Manufacturing Community Support — $30 million (FY 2021 awarded: $25 million)

Department of Energy

• Science — $7.5 billion (FY 2021: $7.0 billion)
• ARPA-E — $450 million (FY 2021: $427 million)
• Technology Transitions programs — $19.5 million (FY 2021: not specified)
  • Incubators for Energy Innovation Clusters — at least $5 million (new)

Department of Health & Human Services

• National Institutes of Health — $45.0 billion (FY 2021: $42.9 billion)
• BARDA — $745 million (FY 2021: $597 million)
• ARPA-H — $1 billion (new) — Funding through FY 2024 to create a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Health.

Minority Business Development Agency

• Total funding — $55 million (FY 2021: $48 million) — Includes $10 million for Broad Agency Announcements to focus innovation and entrepreneurship, among other topics.

Office of Science and Technology Policy

• Total funding — $6.7 million (FY 2021: $5.5 million)