Senate committee advances FY 2020 bills, $31M for RIS

The U.S. Senate advanced multiple FY 2020 bills through the appropriations committee in the past week, including the budgets for EDA, NIST, SBA, and NSF. Among the highlights include $31 million for the Regional Innovation program at EDA, a robust increase over FY 2019’s $23.5 million. While the Senate continues to work through this appropriations process, the chamber is also considering a resolution to continue funding the government from the end of the current fiscal year, Sept. 30, through Nov. 21.

Additional details on the bills passed today are forthcoming. In the meantime, the following appropriations are available publicly:

• Economic Development Administration — $319.5 million, an increase of $15.5 million from FY 2019, including an increase of $7.5 million for the Regional Innovation program to $31 million (the House has appropriated $30 million);
• National Institute of Standards and Technology — $1.04 billion, an increase of $53 million, including $145.5 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, an increase of $5.5 million;
• Bureau of the Census — $7.6 billion, an increase of $3.7 billion, of which $6.7 billion is for the decennial census;
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration — $22.8 billion, an increase of $1.3 billion, including level funding of $6.9 billion for Science;
• National Science Foundation — $8.3 billion, an increase of $242 million, including a $14 million increase for EPSCoR to $190 million;
• Small Business Administration — $876 million, an increase of $161 million, with level funding of $5 million for the clusters program and $2 million for the Growth Accelerators competition;
• Department of Treasury — For the first time, the Senate is proposing a line item for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) and has set aside $20 million; and,
• Department of Agriculture — The Senate would provide $3.2 billion for the Agricultural Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a $10 million increase, and $5 million in new funding for a regional innovation program authorized in last year’s farm bill.

The Senate has now nearly completed its committee-level review of the FY 2020 budget. The Senate’s versions include many differences from the House budget, which passed this summer.