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On May 28, President Biden released the remaining details of his Administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 proposed budget. The budget proposes $1.5 trillion in discretionary spending, including increases for the Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services, and non-defense science overall. In addition, the budget recommends generous increases for federal agencies that directly and indirectly support the population sciences.

In addition to the funding levels outlined in the below chart, the budget also communicates the Administration’s priority initiatives. Some highlights from the release include:

• The creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (APPA-H) within NIH. Specifically, the budget proposes $6.5 billion of its recommended $9 billion NIH funding increase shall be used to establish ARPA-H. The Administration has touted the proposed ARPA-H as a public-private accelerator for research on treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases.
• A proposal to double funding for gun violence prevention research across both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• A new maternal mortality initiative led by the Department of Health and Human Services, totaling $220 million.
• Creation of a new Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) directorate within the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a 16% increase in funding for NSF education and workforce training programs.
• A proposal to provide $150 million, $100 million above FY 2021 enacted, to support CDC’s Public Health Data Modernization Initiative, a multi-year strategy to transform how CDC collects and uses public health data.
• An increase of $95 million, (almost 15%) for the Institute for Education Science (IES) at the Department of Education, the majority of which would be allocated for research grants. There is also a proposal to increase staffing at IES by seven FTE’s, to address IES’s chronic understaffing.
• A modest increase in USAID’s bilateral family planning/reproductive (FP/RH) health programs within the Global Health Programs account (roughly 5%), accompanied by a signaled shift in policy direction regarding FP/RH limitations imposed by the previous Administration. 

Throughout the month of June, the House Appropriations Committee intends to consider or “mark up” all 12 of the appropriations bills that fund the federal government. The goal is then for the full House to consider the bills on the floor during the month of July. The Senate schedule is unclear, but, ideally, (although not likely), that chamber will work with the House to send final versions of the FY 2022 appropriations bills to President Biden to sign before the current fiscal year ends on September 30. Otherwise, it will be necessary for the Congress and the Administration to pass and enact a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded and open. PAA Office of Government and Public Affairs will keep members apprised of key actions as the FY 2022 appropriations deliberations continue.

                           
*Most of the increased in NIH funding, $6.5 billion, devoted to ARPA-H proposal

** These programs have been essentially stagnant for 10+ years. PAA advocates steady and sustainable increases to reverse this trend beginning in FY 2022