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Almost six months after Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 began, Congress passed the FY 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act, H.R. 2471, a bill funding all Federal agencies through September 30, 2022. For the bill to be properly enrolled and presented to the President for his signature, Congress passed a third continuing resolution to keep the federal government open through March 15. President Biden signed the Act into law on March 15.

Action on FY 2022 was delayed due to stalled negotiations over defense and non-defense funding in which Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate were seeking more defense spending, citing the need for greater parity between the two overarching spending categories. To secure a resolution, leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee agreed to adjust the overall spending levels, which ultimately resulted in less funding being made available for non-defense agencies.  

During the final days of deliberations, PAA President Sonal Desai and APC President Sara Curran sent leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees a letter, reiterating support for key Federal scientific and statistical research agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, Census Bureau, and National Science Foundation, that are essential to the population research community. On February 28, PAA and APC sponsored its 2022 Virtual Advocacy Day in which a delegation of PAA and APC officers and invited members met with select congressional offices to discuss the organizations’ interests in FY 2022 and to inform policymakers of the work that population scientists are conducting with direct and indirect support from Federal scientific and statistical research agencies.

While the final FY 2022 spending agreement did not fully reflect funding levels that PAA and APC had endorsed, the agreement included a few notable “victories,” including

• $44.9 billion for the National Institutes of Health, $2.25 billion (+4.7%) increase over FY 2021.
• Increases of at least 3.4 percent for each NIH Institute and Center, with a few ICs faring even better, such as the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, which received $459 million (+17.4%) increase over FY 2021.
• $38.9 million for the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research, $9 million, (+30%) increase over FY 2021.
• $180.4 million for the National Center for Health Statistics, a $5 million (+2.8%) increase over FY 2021.
• $737 million for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), a $94.5 million (+14.7%) increase over FY 2021.

Additional information about the final FY 2022 omnibus bill, including summaries of each major section, is available on the House Appropriations Committee home page.  The Consortium of Social Science Associations, a coalition of behavioral and social science organizations to which PAA belongs, has posted an analysis of the FY 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act as well.

With FY 2022 completed, attention turns to FY 2023. Currently, pundits predict that President Biden will submit his proposed FY 2023 budget to Congress before the second week of April. This submission will instigate a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill including hearings conducted by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and the announcement of individual member’s submission deadlines regarding FY 2023 funding priorities. PAA has already started developing and communicating its FY 2023 funding priorities and will be participating both as a member of relevant coalitions and independently to advocate on behalf of the population research community’s interests and needs.