Federal R&D funding for FY 2001

Since legislators returned at the end of January, the FY2001 budget authorization and appropriations process has consumed a great deal of their time and attention. The yearly process began with the President's release of the Administration's proposed budget, which contained an overall increase for

The Administration proposal also included $2.3 billion for information technology, $1 billion for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and close to $0.5 billion for the Nanotechnology Initiative, housed at NSF. Overall, civilian research was up by 3%: basic research was increased by 6.8%, and applied research by 4.8%.

Congress, in general, has been supportive of increases in funding of science and technology (S&T), and, in March, the process seemed to be headed for a smooth year. The House of Representatives completed its budget resolution, including an overall $1 billion increase from FY 2000 for science-related programs. Additionally, the caps set by the 1997 budget resolution were broken. The two physicists in Congress, Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI) and Rep. Rush Holt (D-IN) spearheaded the S&T funding initiative this year. Ehlers stated, " I am pleased this significant increase in funding will allow for continued growth in research and technology and that it reemphasizes the importance of science and the role it plays in our everyday lives."

Although the budget resolution is a non-binding agreement, which does not have to be signed by the President, the agreement provides general guidelines for the distribution of funds. With the caps broken and strong support from both the President and Congress, what could stall the process this year? The answer lies in the complex appropriations process, when S&T funding has to compete with other discretionary programs. Unlike the budget resolution, these measures require approval by the President.

For example, funding for NSF is coupled with funding for veterans' affairs and housing in the VA-HUD appropriations legislation. When the appropriations committee considers the overall spending bill, which is the third most expensive of the 13 regular appropriations bills ($99.5 billion authorized for FY2000), the NSF request for $375 million for new spending, which may seem like a small amount compared to the $22.3 billion for projects under the Veterans Administration, will fall under that scrutiny. At the House Science Committee re-authorization hearing for NSF in February, Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) stated to Rita Colewell (Director of NSF), "your problem is not with us. The problem is that you are lumped in with housing, and veterans [in the appropriations process]."

Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency also ran into some difficulties in the Senate as Administrator Carol Browner testified on the agency's $7.3 billion budget request. Committee Chairman Bob Smith (R-NH) expressed his concern that the EPA budget plans were requesting new programs and not focusing on their current goals and existing programs. Browner, however, responded that tax code changes to finance the Better America Bonds will enable national environmental goals to be met outside the agency.

The Department of Energy asked for $17.4 billion, an increase of $1.6 billion over FY2000. DOE expressed the need for increased funding for all of its current programs except fossil energy, and proposed several new initiatives, such as the International Clean Energy Initiative ($46 million), Energy Grid Reliability ($36.1 million), Carbon Sequestration ($42 million), and Enhanced Ultra Clean Transportation Fuels ($27 million).

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, called the DOE budget request lopsided and stated, "We can all agree that reducing emissions is a good idea-but we can't ignore fossil fuels."

Because of its size and scope the VA-HUD is never an easy piece of legislation to get through the process. This year, it appeared that appropriators wanted to handle it first, potentially resulting in less scrutiny for new spending. By early April, however, Senate Majority Leader Lott quashed an emergency supplemental spending bill, and expressed his intent to add additional funding on fast-track FY2001 legislation So, it now seems that an omnibus bill will be necessary at the end of the year to wrap up a great deal of the unfinished appropriations.