NAICU Washington Update

House Appropriators Announce Earmark Deadlines

April 01, 2022

The House Committee on Appropriations announced guidance and deadlines for FY 2023 funding of community projects, with the database for Members of Congress to submit requests opening Monday, April 4. The deadline for requests to the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee is April 27, 2022.  The Senate is expected to have a similar process, but has not yet announced its deadlines.

According to the committee guidelines, requests can be made for program funding levels, report or bill language, and community project funding. Since this is only the second year of the reinstatement of earmarks after a decade pause, Congress is taking a restrained approach to the process, and requiring significant transparency from all involved. Members of Congress are allowed to submit up to 15 requests, but they will not all necessarily be funded. All requests are publicly posted on a searchable database, and all entities involved in a project are disclosed. 

There are also restraints on funding. Available funding will be limited to 1% of the total spending allocation, once that allocation is set. For example, total spending in FY 2022 was $1.5 trillion, so the total set aside for projects across subcommittees was $15 billion. Once that filtered down to the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee, and the agencies, project funding in education totaled $389 million. Within the Department of Education, where most higher education projects are funded outside of research, projects are available under Innovation and Improvement for K-12 education, and the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) for higher education. Projects funded in FY 2022 are listed here.  

In her Dear Colleague Letter to the House, Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) noted that projects with broad community support resulted in the success of funding high quality programs last year, and that must remain the model for this year’s projects as well. She wrote in her letter that “community engagement and support are again crucial in determining which projects are worthy of Federal funding. To that end, Members will be asked to include evidence of community support that served as compelling factors in the decision to submit project requests. This will include any letters of support, press articles, or relevant links to information online.”

Colleges interested in submitting project requests for FY 2023 should work directly with their Representative and Senators. 

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