{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.countable.us/bill/photo/hr2578-114/featured_commerce-justice-science-and-related-agencies-appropriations-act-2016-1466094299.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.countable.us/bill/photo/hr2578-114/featured_large_commerce-justice-science-and-related-agencies-appropriations-act-2016-1466094299.jpg","shareable":"https://n.countable.us/share-images/bills/hr2578-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2015-05-27","title_override":"$56 Billion in Funding for NASA, the DOJ, and the Dept. of Commerce","summary_override":"

Update June 15, 2016: Originally, this bill served as the House's appropriations proposal for fiscal year 2016 for the Dept. of Justice (DOJ), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Dept. of Commerce, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other related agencies. As it was rendered moot by the Bipartisan Budget Agreement, it was re-purposed by the Senate to serve as an appropriations package for those agencies to use in fiscal year 2017.

The bill would authorize a total of $56.3 billion in appropriations — which is $563 million more than the previous year, but $183 million below the President’s budget request.

It's also worth noting Democrats in the Senate filibustered this bill\n in an attempt to attach gun control measures to it in the wake of the Orlando terror attack. Their goal is to get this bill to pass through the Senate\n with two amendments attached:

One would ban the sale of guns to \npeople on the FBI terrorist watch list like what this House legislation proposed;

The other would close the so-called “gun-show loophole,” which \nallows gun purchases at private gun shows and over the internet \nwithout completing a background check.

The Dept. of Justice (DOJ)

The DOJ would receive a total of $29.2 billion in appropriations, which is an increase of $156 million from fiscal year 2017. $9.45 billion of the total would go to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) — a $156 million increase from the prior year. The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) funding would be increased by $34.1 million to a total of $2.49 billion. DOJ grant programs would receive a total of $2.36 billion in appropriations, which is a decrease of $334 million from the previous year.

NASA

Funding for NASA would be set at $19.3 billion for fiscal year 2017, which is an increase of $21 million from 2015. Of this, $4.63 billion would be used for exploration activities, like the Space Launch Flight System program and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. Another $5.4 billion would go to NASA Science programs — $194 million less than what those programs received in 2016.

Dept. of Commerce

The Dept. of Commerce would receive $9.3 billion in appropriations — an increase of $70.8 million from fiscal year 2016’s funding level. There would be $3.2 billion allocated to the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), and historically this figure is based on the amount of fees the PTO expects to collect in the fiscal year. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) would see its budget increase by $10 million from the preceding fiscal year to $974 million.

Also within the Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would receive $5.7 billion in funding, $33.5 million more than it received in fiscal year 2016.

Census

The Census Bureau would be allocated $1.5 billion — a $148 million increase from the prior year. The increased funding is for research and planning for the 2020 census. This bill provides $7.5 billion in funding to the National Science Foundation (NSF), which is an increase of $0 from 2016, and spending would be targeted to programs fostering innovation, creating 3 Regional Class Research Vessels (really big ships), economic competitiveness, and STEM education.","official_title":"Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Highlights: \n\nThe Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 provides FY2016 appropriations to the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice (DOJ), science agencies, and several related agencies.\n\nThe bill funds agencies with a wide range of responsibilities for issues such as: addressing violent crime, drug trafficking, financial fraud, terrorism, espionage, and cybercrime; conducting the census; forecasting the weather; managing fisheries; exploring space; advancing science; providing legal services for the poor; enforcing employment discrimination laws; and overseeing patents, trademarks, and trade policy.\n\nThe bill increases overall FY2016 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies funding above FY2015 levels, including increases for the Department of Commerce, DOJ, science programs, and Related Agencies.\n\nWithin the Department of Commerce budget, the bill includes:\n\n increases for the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Bureau of the Cen...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"Federal agencies receiving funding through this bill — including DOJ, NASA, the Department of Commerce, the NSF, among others; taxpayers who support and benefit from these agencies; Congress; the President.","argument_for":"Providing an additional $563 million in funding from the year before is significant, but not excessive. Focusing much of that increase on the DOJ and NASA is wise, and increasing funding at all with federal deficits the way they are is generous enough.","argument_against":"Increasing funding from year-to-year doesn’t mean that the new funding level is sufficient. Funding these programs at the level the President requested would come closer to adequately facilitating commerce and research, and enforcing federal laws.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr2578-114","bill_id":"hr2578-114","formal_id":"H.R. 2578","chamber":"house","congress":114,"last_action_at":"2016-06-23T00:00:00.000Z","active":true,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":"2016-06-14T00:00:00.000Z","debated_on":"2015-06-01T00:00:00.000Z","congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/2578","plain_text_url":"http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114hr2578rs/html/BILLS-114hr2578rs.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.countable.us/share-images/bills/hr2578-114.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th/house-bill/2578/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2015-05-27","related_bill_ids":["hres287-114","s2131-114","hr2029-114"],"progress":"Passed House","house_passage_result":true,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":403,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on Appropriations","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSAP","subcommittee":false},{"name":"Committee on Appropriations","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SSAP","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr2578-114","details":"/api/bills/hr2578-114/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr2578-114","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr2578-114/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr2578-114/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":0,"slug":"hr2578-114-commerce-justice-science-and-related-agencies-appropriations-act-2016","latest_chamber_votes_id":"hr2578-114","official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":3905,"yea_vote_count":2530,"nay_vote_count":1369,"passed_house":true,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["economy","legal-affairs"],"issue_ids":["federal-agencies","economy","legal-affairs","space"],"sponsor_id":446}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"federal-agencies","name":"Federal Agencies","slug":"federal-agencies","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Federal Agencies. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about. \r\n","page_title":"Federal Agencies Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/federal-agencies/black_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg","grey":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/federal-agencies/grey_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg","white":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/federal-agencies/white_federal-agencies-1429042054.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"economy","name":"Economy","slug":"economy","description":"The US Economy is heavily impacted by Federal legislation. Here you can find bills encompassing US monetary policy, the US Federal Budget, overall government spending, appropriations and how we handle the US federal debt and state finances. ","page_title":"Legislation related to the US Economy, monetary policy, the federal budget and government spending - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/economy/black_economy-1429042041.svg","grey":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/economy/grey_economy-1429042041.svg","white":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/economy/white_economy-1429042041.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"legal-affairs","name":"Legal Affairs","slug":"legal-affairs","description":"The US Congress regulates many aspects of American Legal Affairs, including: the US Federal Courts(Appellate and District), Judges, the US Supreme Court, Civil Action, The Constitution and Constitutional Amendments.","page_title":"US Federal legislation related to Legal Affairs, including the Constitution and the Supreme Court - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/legal-affairs/black_legal-affairs-1429042044.svg","grey":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/legal-affairs/grey_legal-affairs-1429042044.svg","white":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/legal-affairs/white_legal-affairs-1429042044.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false},{"id":"space","name":"Space","slug":"space","description":"Vote on the latest federal legislation regarding Space. Make your voice heard about the issues you care about.\r\n","page_title":"Space Legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/space/black_space-1453508995.svg","grey":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/space/grey_space-1453508995.svg","white":"https://assets.countable.us/issue/icon/space/white_space-1453508995.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Btbrown94","vote_count":74,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/1210675348943324/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/1210675348943324/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/1210675348943324/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/1210675348943324/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/omEbv6L9/following","followers":"/api/users/omEbv6L9/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":"","youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"btbrown94","issue_count":18,"is_following":null,"influence_score":120,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":2,"following_count":1,"position_count":71,"id":"omEbv6L9","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"e2d0602e-e3d3-4e1e-ab6a-9521169da7e1","argument_for":"NASA is always underfunded, and seriously needs more. Their return on investment numbers are excellent. Funding a Mars mission would also help bring back national pride, which is something we lack right now.","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":0,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.countable.us/positions/e2d0602e-e3d3-4e1e-ab6a-9521169da7e1"},"body":"NASA is always underfunded, and seriously needs more. Their return on investment numbers are excellent. Funding a Mars mission would also help bring back national pride, which is something we lack right now.","stance":"yea","created_at":"2016-06-17T10:20:25.671Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.countable.us/share-images/positions/e2d0602e-e3d3-4e1e-ab6a-9521169da7e1.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr2578-114","user_id":"omEbv6L9","endorser_ids":[]}}

Like Countable?

Btbrown94

$56 Billion in Funding for NASA, the DOJ, and the Dept. of Commerce