The U.S. House of Representatives approved a spending bill today for the remainder of the 2007 fiscal year that would increase the maximum Pell Grant award by $260 and bolster funds for scientific research. The vote on the bill, House Joint Resolution 20, was 286 to 140.
The Senate is expected to take up the measure next week. Some members have already vowed to try to amend it and filibuster if they don’t get the changes they want. But those threats appear unlikely to alter the House-passed bill or block final passage. More spending cannot be added to the bill without violating agreed-upon caps. And any substantial reworking of the bill could delay final approval past February 15, triggering a shutdown of the federal government. A temporary spending measure is in place only until that date. While under Republican control, Congress failed last year to complete most of the annual appropriations bills that finance the federal government.
The bill would increase the maximum Pell Grant by 6 percent, to $4,310. Spending for the National Institutes of Health would rise by 2 percent. The National Science Foundation’s research account would grow by 8 percent (The Chronicle, January 30 and January 31).
