Submitting a Programmatic Request
Dear Partners and Supporters,
Thank you for taking the time to complete a programmatic request on behalf of Pennsylvania Sea Grant and the Sea Grant Association.
Every member of the House of Representatives is already thinking about reelection in November 2027. As a constituent, this is an impactful time to inform your Representative of your priorities. Especially now, private sector or commercial partners and supporters who represent jobs and economic development are the most influential with elected officials. Members of Congress are always interested in the economics of their district, so being able to demonstrate positive economic impacts — more jobs, new businesses, more money coming into the district — will always be a powerful talking point.
What is a programmatic request?
A programmatic request is a formal submission from a member of Congress to the Appropriations Committee requesting funding or legislative language in the upcoming spending bill. (Note: this is an internal process that is not made public and is different from earmarks.) This is how members of Congress who are not on the Appropriations Committees (and some who are) weigh in on programs of importance to them. Members submit programmatic requests privately to the Appropriations Committees via internal information systems within the House and Senate and in accordance with committees’ instructions and deadlines (see last year’s Senate guidance here). These requests are then used by the Appropriations Committees when they decide which programs to fund and at what levels.
Most members provide an opportunity for constituents to weigh in on what their programmatic requests to the committee should be. Each office that does so has its own programmatic request form — there is not one standardized form — and its own internal process to receive, categorize, and prioritize requests to determine which to submit to the Appropriations Committee.
Programmatic request deadlines vary for each office, typically ranging from February to April. Programmatic requests are more impactful but less visible than conventional “Dear Colleague” Letters (DCLs).
What is Sea Grant requesting for funding for FY26?
The Sea Grant Association’s FY 2026 Programmatic Request for Sea Grant is $134.985 million, which includes $116.985 million for the Sea Grant College Program and $18 million for the Sea Grant Aquaculture Research Program.
Please see this leave-behind resource (add link to SGA programmatic request document) that describes the programmatic ask and justification.
How do I submit a programmatic request?
- Visit your representative’s website to see if they posted their programmatic request forms; if you don’t see them, call your office. Not all members partake in the programmatic request process; for example, fiscally conservative legislators are less likely to engage in this. Note the programmatic request deadline for your representative.
- Use our sample programmatic request as a starting point to help complete your representative’s programmatic request. Note that it may have different questions than our sample.
- Submit your programmatic request by the representative’s deadline. When you submit your programmatic request, please send a copy or bcc paseagrant@psu.edu so that we can track who has submitted requests.
If you have any questions, please reach out to paseagrant@psu.edu – thank you again for your support of Pennsylvania Sea Grant!
