House Spending Bill Would Boost NIH and Pell

The House of Representatives Appropriations Committee approved a 2011 spending bill Thursday that would increase funds for the National Institutes of Health by $1 billion and provide $5.7 billion to keep the maximum Pell Grant at its current level, closing an existing shortfall. Most other student aid programs would be held at their 2010 levels under the legislation, but Rep. David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who heads the panel, noted that the measure would provide the first significant increase in a decade in job training grants through the Workforce Investment Act.