Skip to main content
 

The Senate’s out for Summer

On August 1, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved four FY25 bills before leaving town to start their August recess: Defense, Energy-Water, Financial Services, and Labor-Health & Human Services-Education. Senate Appropriators have advanced 11 of its 12 funding bills – leaving work on the Homeland Security spending package until the second week of September.

Here are a few highlights of the Labor-HHS-Ed bill:

  • Additional Pell Grant support: a $100 increase in the maximum Pell Grant award, bringing the overall award to $7,495 for the 2025-2026 academic year.
  • NIH Funding Increase: The proposed budget allocates $50.2 billion to the NIH, which is $2.05 billion more than the FY24 level. This funding will support areas like mental health, Alzheimer’s research, and cancer studies.
  • CDC Gets a Boost: The CDC is in line for an additional $173 million above the FY24 levels. This boost will aid their efforts in public health preparedness.
  • Investments in Health Professions and Rural Health: The bill earmarks $1.4 billion for Health Professions Workforce Development. Additionally, there’s a $21.3 million increase in rural health programs with the goal of encouraging health care providers to serve in rural areas and bolster support for rural hospitals.

Both chambers reconvene in September. The focus then will be on a short-term Continuing Resolution to extend government funding beyond Election Day.

UNC Public Affairs will continue to engage with key congressional members and staff as the FY25 appropriations process continues. Please contact Kelly Dockham if you have any questions or concerns regarding a specific program or agency.

Lawmakers Introduce the Department of Energy AI Act

On July 10, as an amendment to the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act, Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the bipartisan “Department of Energy AI Act.” The aim of this bill is to advance American leadership in artificial intelligence by building upon the existing National Laboratories infrastructure and workforce at the Department of Energy (DOE).

The bill itself includes numerous initiatives such as authorizing $12 billion over five years for the Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence for Science, Security, and Technology (FASST) initiative at the DOE, including STEM education and workforce development in AI, building a research and development program, and establishing a network of AI research clusters built on the DOE’s existing capabilities and research facilities.

Comments are closed.