Washington, DC – Saturday, March 23, 2024 – The President signed the second package of the final Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills. These are the key takeaways:
National Science Foundation
The NSF will see an 8.3% reduction in funding mainly affecting Research and Related Activities (R&RA) absent any additional supplemental division appropriations. However, FY24 funding for R&RA and STEM Education remains available through FY25). STEM Education programs are funded at the FY21 level.
NSF’s EPSCoR funding received a $5 million boost above FY23 levels.
Department of Energy
The DOE will see an 8.7% increase overall for FY24, including a modest increase for the Office of Science and a 14% increase for Nuclear Energy. The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office maintains its topline FY23 funding level.
DOE’s Office of Science funding remains available until expended (no expiration) and funding for Applied Technology offices is available until the end of FY25.
“The Fiscal Responsibility Act placed a cap on discretionary spending for FY24 and FY25 that will not achieve the CHIPS Act authorizations in the short-term. After three years of historic levels of Federal investment in R&D, that realization is surely disappointing; but the longer-term indicators are certainly more positive. The spending caps expire after FY25, and the overall funding trends in basic and applied research over the last decade are steadily increasing. We expect that trend to continue.”
– Alec Simantov, Federal Budget Expert and Director at McAllister & Quinn.
United States Department of Agriculture
The USDA remains largely flat compared to FY23, and funding for all 1890, 1994, and Hispanic serving institution programs is maintained at FY23 levels.
National Institutes of Standards and Technology
NIST has additional access to $6.2 billion dollars in appropriations made from Division A of the CHIPS and Science Act in FY24, with $1.3 billion in funding set aside for these marquee CHIPS R&D programs:
- National Semiconductor Technology Center
- National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program
- NIST Metrology
- Manufacturing USA
Additionally, FY24 appropriations made to NIST are available until expended.
Department of Defense
DOD RDT&E (Title IV) received a 6.1% increase in funding above the FY23 level across services.
The Army received a $27 million decrease in its RDT&E budget, less than half a percentage point below the FY23 level.
Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority
BARDA received a 6.8% increase in funding above the FY23 level, including $335 million for pandemic preparedness and is directed to expand its focus on antifungal medical countermeasures.
Advanced Research Projects Agency on Health
ARPA-H maintained its FY23 level funding at $1.5 billion, with funding made available for obligation until the end of Fiscal Year 2026. The agreement urges ARPA-H to focus on rare cancers with low rates of survival.
National Institutes of Health
NIH received a $300 million boost in base budget authority over the FY23 level, although total program funding for NIH including CURES Act funding is $378 million below the FY23 level.
Funding for most Institutes and Centers remained flat comparable to FY23 although certain ICs receive funding increases, including the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging); and the National Institute of Mental Health.
Additional funding is provided to establish new initiatives in Native American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander health research as well as palliative care research.
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