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Senate Releases Nine Remaining FY 2022 Appropriations Bills

By Lewis-Burke Associates LLC

The Senate Appropriations Committee released its nine remaining fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations bills on October 18.  While the Senate bills, like the House bills, boost funding for major programs, they still fall short of the funding increases proposed in the Biden Administration’s FY 2022 budget request.  The Senate funding levels, for the most part, are below those proposed by the House.  Of the nine released bills, below are highlights of appropriations bills and programs most relevant to HFES.

The Department of Defense (DOD) would receive $725.8 billion in the Defense appropriations bill.  This includes a boost of $380 million towards basic research funding (6.1) and $100 million for the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) within each Service Branch, for which HFES previously advocated.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) would receive $141 billion through Senate appropriations, an increase of over $14 billion when compared to the FY 2021 enacted level.  This would include an increase in funding for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), for which HFES previously advocated.  The Committee proposed a budget of $18.8 billion, of which $258 million would be for research, engineering, and development, an increase of $60 million.  Further, the Committee would approve FAA's plan to expand the Center of Excellence for Technical Training and Human Performance to assume responsibilities for the Center of Excellence for Automated Systems and Human Factors that was mandated in the Aircraft Certification Reform and Accountability Act of 2021.

The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS-ED) appropriations bill would include funding for multiple agencies of note to HFES, such as:

  • The Department of Education (ED) would receive a massive increase of almost $25 billion for a total of $98 billion in discretionary funding.

  • The National Institute of Health (NIH) would receive almost $48 billion in funding.  This would include $2.4 billion for the establishment of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).

  • The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would receive $117 billion in discretionary funding.  This would include funding that HFES advocated for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which would receive $347 million in funding, an increase of $2 million compared to FY 2021 enacted levels, as well as the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which would receive $380 million, a $42 million increase above FY 2021 enacted levels.

The Commerce, Justice, and Science  appropriations bill would fund the National Science Foundation (NSF) at $9.49 billion, an increase of $1 billion.  This is less than the $10 billion that HFES urged the Committee to allocate.  Additionally, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) would be funded close to $25 billion, an increase of $1.57 billion relative to FY 2021 enacted levels.

Despite progress, Congress does not have a path forward to pass this legislation.  Congress and the White House have not started budget negotiations to finalize the overall spending level and balance of defense and non-defense funding for FY 2022 appropriations.  This must be resolved by December 3 or there is the risk of a government shutdown or another Continuing Resolution.