Federal Budget Deal Could Help Illinois Research

University of Illinois administrators say a federal budget deal will likely help the school's research efforts, particularly at campuses in Champaign-Urbana and Chicago.

The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports school officials believe the compromise will help restore some funding that was cut during automatic budget cuts earlier in the year.

Jon Pyatt is the school's director of federal relations. He calls the agreement "a significant step in the right direction.''

The university's flagship campus gets more than $432 million in federal grants and contracts, including nearly $219 million in money from the National Science Foundation.

But after automatic budget cuts went into effect in March, federal agencies had to scale back and suspend some new initiatives.

The federal budget bill passed the U.S. House last week and awaits Senate action.