What This Bill Does · Plain English
GovGreed Synthesis · AI extraction
This bill amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to authorize the NSF Director to award competitive grants for fundamental plant and microbial biology research with potential relevance to agriculture, food, or biotechnology. It authorizes $150 million to be appropriated for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2031 for this purpose.
Carveouts & Earmarks · 2 line items · $900M tagged
Specific dollar amounts in this bill that flow to identifiable companies or programs — the actual cash trail.
$900M
Sec.2(a) (new Sec.27(b))
"There is authorized to be appropriated to the Director $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031 to carry out this section."
→ Director
—
Sec.2(a) (new Sec.27(a))
"The Director may award grants on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis to institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, private sector entities, and Federal, State, local, or Tribal governments, or a consortia of such institutions, entities, or governments, to support plant and microbial biology research with potential relevance to agriculture, food, or biotechnology, including relating to the following: (1) Fundamental research regarding plant biology. (2) Tools, resources, and technology that further enable plant biology."
→ institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, private sector entities, and Federal, State, local, or Tribal governments, or a consortia of such institutions, entities, or governments
Action Timeline
2026-03-16
Referred to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
2026-03-16
Introduced in House
2026-03-16
Introduced in House
Frequently Asked Questions
Did HR.7949 pass?
HR.7949 is still alive. Current stage: COMMITTEE. Pass likelihood: pending.
What does HR.7949 do?
This bill amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to authorize the NSF Director to award competitive grants for fundamental plant and microbial biology research with potential relevance to agriculture, food, or biotechnology. It authorizes $150 million to be appropriated for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2031 for this purpose.
Who sponsored HR.7949?
HR.7949 was sponsored by Josh Riley (D-New York).
How much money does HR.7949 spend?
HR.7949 contains $900M in identified line-item carveouts to specific programs and companies, across 2 earmarks.
Full Bill Text
119 HR 7949 IH: Plant Biological Research at the National Science Foundation Act U.S. House of Representatives 2026-03-16 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. I 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7949 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 16, 2026 Mr. Riley of New York (for himself and Mr. Baird ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To amend the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to provide for grants to support plant and microbial biology research with potential relevance to agriculture, food, or biotechnology, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Plant Biological Research at the National Science Foundation Act or the NSF Plant Biology Act . 2. Fundamental plant biology research (a) In general The National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 27. Fundamental plant biology research (a) In general The Director may award grants on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis to institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, private sector entities, and Federal, State, local, or Tribal governments, or a consortia of such institutions, entities, or governments, to support plant and microbial biology research with potential relevance to agriculture, food, or biotechnology, including relating to the following: (1) Fundamental research regarding plant biology. (2) Tools, resources, and technology that further enable plant biology. (b) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to the Director $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031 to carry out this section. . (b) Definition amendment Section 4 of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 is amended by— (1) redesignating paragraphs (13) through (16) as paragraphs (14) through (17), respectively; and (2) by inserting after paragraph (12) the following new paragraph: (13) Nonprofit organization The term nonprofit organization means an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 15 501(a) of such Code. .
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