NIST Hits the Jackpot: FY94 Budget Request

Two of the major goals of the Clinton Administration are improving the economy and creating new jobs. One of the White House’s main strategies for achieving these goals is investment in new technologies. In February, President Clinton released a technology policy document, entitled “Technology for America’s Economic Growth” (see FYI #23), which states that “Technology is the engine of economic growth. In the United States, technological advance has been responsible for as much as two-thirds of productivity growth since the Depression, . . . [creating] entire new industries and millions of high-paying jobs.”

The administration envisions spurring this technology growth through new, improved cooperation between government and industry, and a major player will be the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). As Presidential Science Advisor Jack Gibbons explained in a statement released on April 8, “There is a fundamental shift both towards developing a much closer working partnership between the public and private sectors, and towards the leveraging of government investments in cooperation with private investments. . . In a time of scarce resources, it is essential to merge public and private interests wherever possible.”

NIST, the only federal agency with the mission of supporting American industry, is the obvious choice to promote government-industry cooperation, and the White House is seeking increased funding to meet the challenge. NIST is slated for $535.2 million in the FY94 budget request, an increase of $151.2 million, or a whopping 39.4%, over its FY93 appropriation of $384.0 million. (An additional $117.4 million was in Clinton’s economic stimulus package, but was cut out, along with additional funding for NSF and most other initiatives, before final passage of the pared-down bill.)

NIST supports two types of programs, extramural and intramural. The extramural programs include the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), the biggest winner in Clinton’s strategy to promote government-industry partnerships. ATP funds cost-shared, competitive awards to US industry for precompetitive, generic technologies. An increase of $132.0 million-- nearly 200%-- has been requested for the program, bringing its total to $199.5 million. It is estimated that the increase will fund over 100 new grants.

The other major extramural program is the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), which will increase and extend the influence of NIST’s Manufacturing Technology Centers. The program’s goal is to disseminate manufacturing know-how and technologies to small and medium-sized businesses across the country. MEP’s budget request is $30.2 million, an increase of $12.0 million.

NIST will receive $241.0 million, an increase of $48.1 million, for its intramural research, performed at laboratories in Maryland and Colorado. NIST’s intramural programs include research in high-performance computing, advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, electronics, biotechnology and chemical processing, and international trade and standards. NIST Physics research received a request of $26.9 million, $0.5 million over FY93 funding.

In addition, $61.7 million has been requested, according to the NIST budget “Highlights,” “to replace scientifically obsolete laboratory space and to rectify serious facility safety and systems capacity problems.” Although this represents a decrease of $43.3 million from FY93, the Clinton Administration has endorsed a $540-million, 10-year plan to upgrade the NIST facilities.

Clinton’s vision for the future includes a continued high rate of growth for NIST programs over the next four years. The total NIST budget is projected to reach $1,379.5 million in FY97. This would result in a 259.0% increase over the current (FY93) appropriation by 1997 if the annual increases are approved by Congress-- far from a sure thing. Although many on Capitol Hill are strong supporters of NIST’s efforts, such growth will be hard to come by while Congress is faced with the overwhelming budget deficit.

NIST’s budget “Highlights” present this justification of this year’s requested increases: “The programs are proposed at the levels required for national impact . . . Such funding levels also are well justified by the measured high returns to US industry in reduced costs, increased sales, and improved product quality delivered by NIST programs.”