Federal budget brings good news for science

Well, relatively good news. The FYI feature of the American Institute of Physics notes today that Science Receives Windfall in Final 2018 Spending Bill. They note that Congress has decided to “push back” against Mr. Trump and “increase[d] nondefense spending by $60 billion, or 12 percent, and defense spending by $78 billion, or 14 percent.” In their words,

The final package is a boon for federally sponsored scientific research, infrastructure, and STEM education. However, agencies do not benefit equally. Billions of dollars in new funding will flow to research and facilities at the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. Other science agencies, such as the National Science Foundation, are receiving more moderate increases. A few programs that have been in the political crosshairs, such as the research offices at the Environmental Protection Agency, are likely to count their outcome of flat funding as a win.

NIST, where I used to work, got a 5 % increase for Scientific and Technical Research Services. Even the Department of Education, against the wishes of the Administration, received

a $700 million funding boost for the Student Support and Academic Enrichment program and essentially maintaining funding levels for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers and Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants programs. The bill carves out $50 million in the Education Innovation and Research program to support STEM and computer science education projects and notes that a wide range of DOEd grant programs can be used to support STEM education initiatives.

You can read the details and see some nice bar graphs by following the link.