The Senate Committee on Appropriations last week approved the FY2016 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill with a bipartisan 27-3 vote.

A far-reaching $51 billion measure now available for consideration by the Senate, the bill holds funding for the National Science Foundation at FY 2015 enacted levels, with a total appropriation of $7.344 billion, $430,000 below the FY 2015 level, $380 million below the Administration’s request, and $50 million below the House Committee recommendation.

For the Research and Related Activities account, the Senate Committee recommendation is $5.934 billion, the same as the 2015 level, $253 million below the Administration’s request, and $50 million below the House Committee recommendation. The Committee report language notes that the R&RA appropriation funds “scientific discovery, trains a dynamic workforce, and supports broadly accessible state-of-the-art tools and facilities.” The report lists all six directorates supported by the “discipline-oriented R&RA account” including Geosciences and Behavioral and Economic Science.

The Senate Committee report notes that “The Committee’s fiscal year 2016 recommendation renews its support for Federal long-term basic research that has the potential to be transformative to our economy and our way of life in the context of a stagnant Federal budget. The House report was silent on these two directorates when allocating the $50 million increase provided in the House bill.

During the Markup, the Senate Committee adopted a Managers Package of 11 report language amendments including an amendment by Senator Udall adding language on solar observatories to the National Science Foundation section of the report.

The Senate Committee statement can be found here.