LegiStorm

Summary:

This report tracks and describes actions taken by the Administration and Congress to provide FY2015 appropriations for the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) accounts. It also provides an overview of FY2014 appropriations for agencies and bureaus funded as a part of the annual appropriation for CJS. The annual CJS appropriations act provides funding for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, the science agencies, and several related agencies. Appropriations for the Department of Commerce include funding for agencies such as the Census Bureau; the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Appropriations for the Department of Justice (DOJ) provide funding for agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Prisons; the U.S. Marshals; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; along with funding for a variety of grant programs for state, local, and tribal governments. Funding for the science agencies goes to the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The annual appropriation for the related agencies includes funding for agencies such as the Legal Services Corporation and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Over the past 10 fiscal years, appropriations for CJS increased from FY2005 to FY2010, and they have generally declined since. After adjusting for inflation, FY2013 and FY2014 appropriations for CJS were generally at the same level as in FY2005. The peak in CJS appropriations around FY2010 was the result of increased appropriations for the Department of Commerce to support the 2010 decennial census. Since FY2010, total appropriations for CJS have been around $60 billion, with the exception of FY2013 when sequestration cut nearly $4 billion out of the total FY2013 CJS appropriations. While decreased appropriations for the Department of Commerce mostly explain the overall decrease in CJS appropriations since FY2010, there have also been cuts in funding for DOJ and NASA. Recent reductions to NASA's appropriation have brought it more in-line with what the agency received in FY2005. In addition, despite recent cuts to DOJ's appropriation, Congress still appropriated $6.883 billion more for DOJ in FY2014 than it did in FY2005. For FY2014, through P.L. 113-76, Congress appropriated a total of $61.623 billion for CJS, of which $8.181 billion was for the Department of Commerce, $27.737 billion was for the Department of Justice, $24.824 billion was for the science agencies, and $881.8 million was for the related agencies. For FY2015, the Administration requested a total of $62.397 billion for the agencies and bureaus funded as a part of the annual CJS bill. The Administration's request included $8.746 billion for the Department of Commerce, $27.974 billion for the Department of Justice, $24.721 billion for the science agencies, and $956.1 million for the related agencies. The House-passed CJS bill (H.R. 4660) would have provided $62.559 billion for the CJS departments and agencies. The House-passed bill included $8.231 billion for the Department of Commerce, $28.162 billion for the Department of Justice, $25.296 billion for the science agencies, and $870.9 million for the related agencies. On June 5, 2014, the Senate Committee on Appropriations reported its version of the FY2015 CJS appropriations bill (S. 2437). The bill reported by the Senate Committee on Appropriations would have provided a total of $62.636 billion for CJS. The bill included $8.556 billion for the Department of Commerce, $27.997 billion for the Department of Justice, $25.161 billion for the science agencies, and $923.0 million for the related agencies. On December 16, 2014, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235). The act provides a total of $61.753 billion for the agencies and bureaus funded by the annual CJS appropriations act. The act provides $8.467 billion for the Department of Commerce, $27.030 billion for the Department of Justice, $25.360 billion for the science agencies, and $895.9 million for the related agencies. Policy makers considered several issues while debating the FY2015 funding levels for CJS agencies and bureaus, including the following: Whether the Census Bureau would receive the funds requested to complete the research and testing necessary for a cost-effective 2020 census design, and to restore 12-month interviewing and the full American Community Survey sample size after a one-month break in data collection that was caused by the October 2013 federal government shutdown. Whether to fund the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) core laboratory and construction accounts at a level consistent with the goal of doubling funding for these and other targeted accounts, as proposed previously by President Obama and adopted implicitly in the America COMPETES Act (P.L. 110-69) and the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-358). Whether Congress should have provided the $147.0 million in gun- and school violence-related grant funding under the State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance the Administration requests as a part of its "Now is the Time" initiative, which is the Administration's effort to combat gun violence. Whether the Bureau of Prisons has adequate resources to properly manage the growing number of inmates held in federal prisons. Whether the current direction for the U.S. human spaceflight program, established in October 2010 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-267), can be implemented successfully in a period of increased budgetary constraint, as well as what the potential impact of human spaceflight's funding needs will be on the availability of funding for other NASA programs, such as science, aeronautics, and education. Whether Congress should have adopted the Administration's proposed government-wide science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education program reorganization and consolidation, including proposed changes at NSF, NASA, and the Department of Commerce.