Washington — A Senate Appropriations subcommittee agreed today to give the National Science Foundation the same 14-percent budget increase for 2009 that its counterpart in the House of Representatives approved last week.

Under the legislation, the NSF would get $6.9-billion for the 2009 fiscal year, 13.67 percent more than in 2008. Within that budget, $790-million would go to the science foundation’s education programs, while $5.6-billion would be used for research grants, according to the head of communications for Sen. Barbara Mikulski, the Maryland Democrat who is chairwoman of the subcommittee.

The Senate panel also approved $17.8-billion for NASA in 2009, a 2.78-percent increase over the current fiscal year. —Maria José Viñas