Spending Bill With Increases for Pell Grants, NIH, and NSF Heads to Obama

With the U.S. Senate voting today, Congress has given final approval to a spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year that includes a $200 jump in the maximum Pell Grant and increases for the National Institutes of Health the the National Science Foundation. Negotiators in Congress agreed on the compromise measure last week, and the House of Representatives approved it on Thursday. The legislation, which combines six appropriations bills and provides funds for dozens of federal agencies, including the Department of Education, now goes to President Obama, who is expected to sign it into law.