In Senate Report 110-129 (accessible from this page, on page 70), the committee report states about the EAC:

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The Election Assistance Commission [EAC] was created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 [HAVA]. Under HAVA, the EAC’s role is to promulgate voluntary State guidelines for election systems, develop a national certification program for voting equipment, and provide related guidance. The EAC is also charged with awarding grants to improve election administration and enhancing election equipment.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Committee provides $16,517,000 for EAC’s administrative expenses, which is $254,000 more than the fiscal year 2007 level and $1,050,000 more than the budget request. The accompanying bill provides $3,250,000 of these funds for transfer to the National Institute for Standards and Technology for technical assistance related to the development of voluntary State voting systems guidelines. Of the additional funds provided, $750,000 is provided for the Help America Vote Act College Program. The Committee also provides $300,000 within the overall amount provided, for mock election programs for students in secondary education programs with oversight and competitive award by the EAC. Before funding is awarded, any grantee shall explain in detail how the mock elections are to be conducted, the number of students participating, guidelines that the program employs, internal fiscal controls used,
and a statement attesting to the non-partisanship of the program.
Research Products.–The Committee directs that no Federal funds shall be used in a way that would bar the public release of final research presented to the Commission for its consideration. While the Commission may determine how to respond to research performed with Federal funds, any use of research paid for from the public funds shall be made available without substantive edits. The Commission shall review and produce its own reports without partisan influence or bias, and shall not unduly limit the rights of Federally-funded researchers to speak freely about the research following the conclusion of the contract.

That last paragraph is good news. Thanks so much to a reader for passing this along.