Biden Administration Releases Budget Proposal
On April 9, 2021, President Joe Biden released his administration’s FY 2022 budget proposal, which included funding increases for education, health, and the environment while keeping consistent spending levels on defense and homeland security.
In a letter to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Shalanda D. Young, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) explained several priorities of the proposal, including “The discretionary request proposes the creation of an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health within the National Institutes of Health. This major investment in Federal research and development would drive transformational innovation in health research and speed application and implementation of health breakthroughs. The discretionary request also makes a historic investment in the Title I grant program, which would help school districts deliver a high-quality education to students from low income families.”
President Biden’s proposal would increase base federal discretionary spending by 8.4 percent compared to 2021 levels, to $1.52 trillion.
Under President Biden’s plan, the Department of Education would see the greatest amount of increase in funding (+41 percent), and the Department of Homeland Security would see the least (+0.2 percent). Contrary to former President Trump, who proposed cutting most agency spending levels, President Biden’s budget would increase spending by more than 10 percent in 11 of the 15 Cabinet departments. Some of these spending increases would be dedicated to garnering resources for high-poverty schools and helping vulnerable populations.
Compared to former President Obama’s first budget request, President Biden asked for less spending on defense, international funding, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
This budget plan concerns discretionary spending only, which is the part of the budget that is determined through appropriations acts. Mandatory spending, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are not included in this plan. The administration has said expanded budget details will be released in the coming months.
A few takeaways from President Biden’s proposal include that it would give the EPA a budget boost of about 20 percent. While this request is lower than what former President Obama requested for the EPA in his first budget request, it is significantly higher than former President Trump’s requests regarding climate and the EPA. The budget also proposes $600 million to buy electric vehicles for government agencies and charging stations, including for the U.S. Postal Service. Additionally, Biden’s proposal includes $8.7 billion in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)- an increase of $1.6 billion in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A full breakdown of how each agency would be impacted by President Biden’s budget proposal can be found here.
