April 21, 2016

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) spending bill for fiscal year (FY) 2017 on April 21. The bill provides $56 billion in discretionary funding for a number of federal agencies, including the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, NASA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Within the bill, NSF would receive $7.5 billion, a less than 1 percent increase over FY 2016 levels, and $55 million below the President’s request. Despite this modest increase, the bill includes major increases for research equipment and facilities—more than $46 million over FY 2016 levels—and does not include directorate-level cuts.

NASA Earth Science, which includes many earth-observing satellites, would see an increase in its budget to $1.9 billion to continue development of Landsat 9 and to continue the Pre-Aerosol, Clouds, and Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, among other projects.

The bill still needs to pass the full Senate and conference with a House version of the bill before it can be signed into law.

Sources: NASA, Senate Appropriations Committee