Senate FY 2015 NSF Appropriations Bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee released its report today accompanying the FY 2015 Commerce Justice, Science Appropriations Bill. Report 113-181 provides the appropriators’ recommendations regarding the agencies funded by S. 2437. The House Appropriations Committee developed its own version of this funding legislation in early May.

The Senate language regarding the National Science Foundation is on pages 122-129 of the report .

National Science Foundation:

The FY 2014 appropriation was $7,171.9 million
The FY 2015 request is $7,255.0 million, an increase of $83.1 million or 1.2 percent
The House bill provides $7,409.2 million, an increase of $237.3 million or 3.3 percent above current funding
The Senate bill provides $7,255.0 million, an increase of $83.1 million or 1.2 percent above current funding

There was no overall report language.

Within the National Science Foundation are the following budget accounts:

Research and Related Activities:

The FY 2014 appropriation was $5,808.9 million
The FY 2015 request is $5,807.5 million, a decrease of $1.5 million or 0.03 percent
The House bill provides $5,978.7 million, an increase of $169.8 million or 2.9 percent above current funding
The Senate bill provides $5,838.7 million, an increase of $29.8 million or 0.5 percent above current funding

Report language, found on pages 122 - 124, pertains to Scientific Facilities and Instrumentation; Astronomy; Advanced Manufacturing; High Performance Computing; Cybersecurity; EPSCoR; Ocean Science Infrastructure; Icebreakers; Southeast Tornado Research; and Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability.

Education and Human Resources:

The FY 2014 appropriation was $846.5 million
The FY 2015 request is $889.8 million, an increase of $43.3 million or 5.1 percent
The House bill provides $876.0 million, an increase of $29.5 million or 3.5 percent above current funding
The Senate bill provides $889.8 million, an increase of $43.3 million or 5.1 percent above current funding

Report language, found on pages 125 – 128, pertains to Committee on STEM Education, Advanced Technological Education, Robert Noyce Scholarship Program, CyberCorps, Informal Science Education, Division on Human Resource Development, Innovation Corps, HBCU’s Excellence in Research, Transformative Learning Initiative, Life STEM, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program.

Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction:

The FY 2014 appropriation was $200.0 million
The FY 2015 request is $200.8 million, an increase of $0.8 million or 0.4 percent
The House bill provides $200.8 million
The Senate bill provides $200.8 million

The report language on pages 124 - 125 states funding “at the requested level” was provided for ongoing projects.