Summer is ending! What is the status of appropriations for STEM education on Capitol Hill?

As is the case each August, Congress has left Washington D.C., for several weeks. The month’s slower pace gives STEM, education and afterschool advocates an opportunity to digest what happened in the frantic days before the recess and assess what remains to be done in 2023.

The annual spending debate was front and center for lawmakers in July, and will be so again when they return to the people’s business in September. Federal investments in STEM education are arguably affected by each of the 12 spending bills Congress passes each fiscal year. The full Senate has passed none of the fiscal year (FY) 2024 annual spending bills. The House has passed one—the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs bill.

The two chambers have taken different approaches to developing these bills. The House has written partisan bills that have been subject to divisive debates at the subcommittee and full committee levels. Republicans, who are in charge of the process in the House, have decided to write bills that would cut funding to FY 2022 levels. In contrast, the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved all 12 spending bills—bills developed in a bipartisan way, that adhered to the limits set in the debt ceiling and budget cuts deal struck earlier this year, and that won bipartisan support from Committee members. The House bills that have moved through Subcommittee and full Committee action would cut spending to FY 2022 levels—far below those outlined in the debt limit deal—and have not received a single Democratic vote. Negotiating compromise versions of these bills will be difficult.

The two bills that STEM education advocates watch the closest are the Labor Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) and the Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) spending bills. The House LHHS bill has only been approved by the House Subcommittee; full Committee action was delayed due to the controversy around the cuts in the bill proposed by Republicans and troublesome policy riders. A number of Republicans have said privately that they cannot support the bill. The Senate LHHS bill has been approved by the full Committee. The House CJS bill has been approved by the Subcommittee, but hasn’t been approved by the full committee, leaving a lot of details of the bill unknown. In particular, proposed cuts in STEM education at the National Science Foundation have advocates anxious to learn more. The Senate CJS bill has been approved by the full Committee.

The House LHHS bill would cut programs important to STEM education. It would cut Title I funding (funds that go to schools in impoverished communities) by 80 percent. It would eliminate any funding for programs that support educators, undermining efforts to address the diversity issues in the STEM teaching workforce. In contrast, the Senate bill would provide a modest increase to Title I and retain investments in teachers.

It is important to note that STEM and afterschool both enjoy bipartisan support. The House bill would level fund Title IV, Part A—a program districts can use to invest in STEM education programs; the Senate LHHS bill would provide a modest increase. Funding for Title IV, part B – 21st Century Community Learning Centers would be level in the House and Senate bills.

The bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act has been one of the biggest STEM funding streams to come along in recent years. As it marks its one-year anniversary, advocates are concerned that the underfunding of CHIPS and Science programs will undermine the promise of the legislation. The legislation see this analysis from the Federation of American Scientists.

When Congress returns to Washington, D.C. in September they will only have a few weeks to resolve FY 2024 spending or pass a temporary spending bill—a continuing resolution (CR)—to keep the government open past midnight on September 30. In August, House Republicans began meeting via conference call to discuss a strategy for passing a CR that would last for several months, giving lawmakers the time needed to pass the 12 FY 2024 spending bills. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will face the challenge of retaining support from all House Republicans as he navigates this effort. In the meantime, pundits and advocates are predicting whether or not there will be a federal government shut down and, if there is, how long it might last.

We will continue to advocate for afterschool STEM funding as negotiations proceed on Capitol Hill. Read our most recent blog on afterschool appropriations, and stay tuned for a complementary blog with a status update on activities at federal agencies as well as other STEM legislative issues that are rattling around.