New Budget Starting to Come Into Focus

Some of the details of President Clinton’s budget request for fiscal year 1994 are becoming known. A full budget request is due on March 23. The following information is based on department or agency briefings and press accounts:

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION:

The Clinton Administration is asking Congress to increase NSF’s current budget by $207.4 million. $197.4 million would be for Research and Related Activities: $112 million for “Strategic Research Initiatives” and $85.4 million for core research programs. There would be an additional $4.7 million for instrumentation. A House Appropriations subcommittee will review this request on February 23.

There is still no word about NSF’s budget for the next fiscal year. The foundation expects its “passback” from the Office of Management and Budget this week. This passback is the final OMB decision on NSF’s budget request. For NSF and DOE (and probably for all other departments and agencies) the OMB passback budget numbers are final: negotiations or appeals will not be allowed.

There is much speculation about NSF’s fortunes, ranging from talk of “shared sacrifice” to relatively optimistic forecasts. It is felt that if the NSF budget request is high, it will probably win approval on Capitol Hill. If the request allows for little or no growth, Congress will probably be reluctant to increase the numbers.

NASA:

The Clinton Administration will request $2.3 billion for Space Station Freedom for FY 1994. NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin announced to NASA employees that the request (if approved) allows for “a smooth transition of the program to a streamlined, cost-effective design, assuring stability in the program during the transition and minimizing any potential job loss.” A review process for a redesign of the station, requested by Clinton, has been established. See the SSC section below for early congressional reaction.

Details of the budget will be released on March 23, including the transfer of space station money to the development of new technologies for “revitalizing American industry.” Goldin said these projects “could lower the cost of space research, achieve demonstrable results sooner, and be more directly beneficial to the economy.” It has been suggested that areas such as computer science, aeronautics, and robotics will benefit.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY:

There is more detail about DOE’s budget request, although figures are still being developed. The following is not “final,” and changes could occur:

Superconducting Super Collider: The Administration will request an increase of $108 million above current spending to a total of $640 million. This is about one-half of what former DOE Secretary James Watkins said was needed to keep the SSC on schedule and budget. The new budget reflects this reduction: the SSC’s completion date will be delayed from 2000 to 2003, with the final cost by a “back of an envelope” estimate now set at $10 billion. In a January 14, 1993 letter to science committee chairman George Brown (D-California), Watkins stated that the Total Project Cost was $8.299 billion.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Jim Sasser (D-Tennessee) announced on February 16 that “I’m going to propose cutting the [SSC]. That’s a $7 billion scientific pork barrel being built in the state of Texas. I’m going to oppose the space station. That will save us $40 billion.” In the House, SSC critic Sherwood Boehlert (R-New York) said “It doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in you-know-where of passing the House this year.”

Advanced Neutron Source: The Clinton Administration will request $26 million in 1994 to start construction of this “next generation” research reactor. The Advanced Neutron Source will “allow U.S. scientists to exercise leadership in important medical and manufacturing areas involving semi-conductors, superconductors, magnetic and biological materials, polymers, and isotopes used for cancer treatment,” according to DOE. Total spending for FY 1994-98: $1.2 billion.

Tokamak Physics Experiment: An increase of $20 million will be requested for initial construction of this facility. Total spending for FY 1994-98: $372 million.

B-Factory, Fermi Lab Main Injector, High Energy Nuclear Physics, Inertial Confinement Fusion, Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility: No information; still under review. Requests could be flat, flat plus inflation, or increased.

Cooperative Research Partnerships at Non-Defense DOE Labs: An increase of $50 million per year for FY 1994-98 for “continued pursuit of dual-use technologies [to] assure economic security.”

FCCSET Programs (Federal Coordinating Council on Science, Engineering and Technology): “Full funding” for these programs in high performance computing, science and math education, materials, bio-technology, and advanced manufacturing.

Clean-Up of DOE Facilities: $6.2 billion will be requested, approximately one-third of DOE’s FY 1994 budget.

Nuclear Advanced Reactor Program: A phase-out is planned, which “reflects a change in priorities away from nuclear power and toward efficiency, renewables and natural gas.” The impact of this on the SP-100 program is unknown.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE:

Advanced technology programs would receive a $700 million increase through 1997. An additional $358 million is requested for this year for technology initiatives, including advanced technology and computer programs and fiber-optic highway