Final spending package a win for federal science programs

Just before the Christmas holiday, Congress approved $1.4 trillion in spending in a pair of bills funding the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year. The bills included all 12 annual appropriations bills for the 2020 fiscal year that started Oct. 1. Overall, it was another good year for science funding. USDA research programs, NSF, and DOE-Office of Science all saw solid single digit funding increases for FY2020. The real success story is the combined growth over the past several years. Since FY2017, DOE Science is up over 30%, AFRI is up over 20%, and NSF is up 10%. It’s some of the strongest growth in decades. See the full budget details here.