Wednesday, June 28, 2017

USA: House Energy Spending Bill Readjusts EERE Budget Cut

House energy bill spends $3.6B more than Trump budget (The Hill)

House appropriators on Tuesday introduced a spending bill for federal energy and water departments that spends $3.65 billion more in 2018 than President Trump requested for the agencies.

The bill, which funds the Department of Energy (DOE), nuclear weapons oversight, the Army Corps of Engineers and other departments, would spend $37.56 billion total in 2018, a $209 million cut from current funding levels.

But the measure is a rejection of Trump’s budget proposal, which looked to deeply slash spending for the initiatives funded by the legislation.

Renewable energy research, for instance, is cut by $986 million over current levels to $1,104 million, but that is $468 million less than the cuts for which Trump had aimed.