Federal budget could bring opportunities to FAMU

By Anthony W. Hopson

Florida A&M University Government Relations

On December 18, 2015, as Rattlers across the country were dispersing for their holiday break, the United States Congress was meeting its self-imposed deadline to fund the federal government by authorizing a large federal spending bill known as an Omnibus.

Congress passed the 2,000 page omnibus spending bill (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016) with bipartisan support. The massive spending bill includes some increases in spending for federal agencies that align with the strategic initiatives of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU).

Congress previously failed to reach an agreement when the federal fiscal year ended on September 30, 2015 necessitating the implementation of a continuing resolution. A continuing resolution is a legislative mechanism that, when passed by both chambers of Congress, extends the budgetary functions of the federal government at current funding levels for a specific period of time.

The federal budget process begins early in the calendar year with the President unveiling his new budget proposal. Both the Senate and House of Representatives submit their respective budget proposals and then the negotiations commence. The goal of the process is to finalize a new spending bill by the end of the current fiscal year (September 30 for the federal government). If both chambers fail to reach a budget agreement, then a special budget conference is held consisting of members from both chambers.

Throughout the budgeting process the appropriations committees of both chambers play an essential role in determining the parameters and priorities of the federal budget. In the House of Representatives, for example, there are 12 appropriations subcommittees that ultimately determine the funding recommendations for the federal agencies.

As a land-grant and major research university the federal budget is important to FAMU. Florida A&M University and other research universities compete for federal research and development funding that is allocated through the budgeting process to the agencies.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 shows modest increases in appropriations that appear beneficial to FAMU. Modest increases were given to the line items that fund research at 1890 institutions, the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, Extension services at 1890 institutions, and Food Safety Outreach.

The largest increase in the agricultural appropriation is in the AFRI line item, with a $25 million increase over FY2015 levels. All of the line items that received an increase in the agricultural appropriation are services that FAMU has historically competed successfully for in grant awards, and are areas that meet many of FAMU’s strategic initiatives.

In addition to the Agricultural Subcommittee increases, other appropriation subcommittee bills showed modest increases in areas that align with FAMU’s strategic initiatives.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) research line item saw an increase of $29 million dollars over FY2015 levels. FAMU is a host site for one of only five NOAA-sponsored Environmental Cooperative Science Centers (ECSC) in the country. As such, this increase may present some additional funding opportunities.

FAMU’s College of Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities may be positioned to compete for a rare increase in the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The NEH saw a very rare $2 million increase over FY2015 levels. The Department of Defense will see increases in Science and Technology, and Basic Research. Science and Technology will see an increase of $999 million dollars over FY2015, and Basic Research will see an increase of $31 million.

The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education subcommittee bill contains the following items that may have implications to FAMU enrollment:

While the Pell Grants allocation will remain at $22.5 billion, which represents the same allocation as FY2015, when combined with mandatory funding, the appropriation provides for the scheduled $140 increase in the maximum Pell award to $5,915 for the 2016-2017 school year.

Both the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and Federal Work study allocations will remain flat with FY2015. TRiO will see an increase of $60 million over FY2015.

The GEARUP program will see an increase of $21 million over FY2015. International Education/Title VII will remain flat with FY2015 with $65 million for domestic programming and $7 million for overseas programming.

Finally, the State and Foreign Operations subcommittee appropriation presented an opportunity for FAMU as it relates to the development of “new” partnerships between universities in developing countries. The bill provides for “not less than $35 million” for “new” partnerships between higher education institutions in the United States and developing countries.

Accessing federal funding requires diligence, collaboration, and the drafting of quality proposals. Grant writers should adhere to deadlines and work with the FAMU Division of Research to develop quality proposals.

For now the deal is done, there is a budget and the work on next year’s budget has already begun.