Space Station Funding: Even Odds

There has been considerable activity in Washington this week concerning the space station. Whether this was successful in securing station funding should be known by mid-June when the full House is scheduled to vote on the VA, HUD, Independent Agencies Appropriations bill, which provides the NASA budget.

Pressure to save the space station is coming from both the White House and the Capitol. Yesterday, House science committee chairman George Brown (D-California) participated in a roundtable which centered on space station funding. Brown, who described himself as a “very, very strong supporter of the space station,” nevertheless repeated his unwillingness to back the project if it is at the expense of NASA space science, technology, and aeronautics programs.

As the dust starts to settle on the FY 1995 allocation for the House VA/HUD subcommittee, it appears that it will be $350-$500+ million short, a situation Brown described as “grim.” Now that the allocation has been made, he is stepping-up pressure on other fronts. During yesterday’s discussion, Brown said his committee will be working on its own NASA bill, which authorizes (not appropriates) a $14.15 billion budget for FY 1995. He continued, “For those of you who have been asking where I draw the line on support for the space station -- this is the line. With fewer resources than this, I will oppose the space station program in its current form -- either by reducing funding for the station or by killing it outright and redistributing those resources in other NASA programs.”

That said, Brown, who also described himself as a “reasonable guy,” softened the line which he has just drawn, allowing that the NASA appropriation figure could be somewhat less. How much less was unspecified: probably $14.04 billion, certainly not $13.8 billion, he said.

Also being considered is convincing Rep. John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania), chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, to spend some of his money on VA/HUD programs, an idea mentioned by Brown. Likely candidates would be some launch costs or NSF’s Antarctic Logistical Support Activities. Murtha has been guarding his allocation carefully, so this will take some effort. President Clinton, characterized as feeling “very strongly” about station funding, is said to be open to this financing arrangement.

Making all of this even more difficult is the Senate VA/HUD allocation which was reported yesterday to be $316 million below the comparable House outlay figure (see FYI #38.) This amount was said to have been set with an eye towards using defense money to make up for the shortfall in station funding.

Brown gave President Clinton high marks for his efforts on behalf of the space station, but urged the President to step up the pressure. Asked at yesterday’s briefing what he calculated the chances were now for winning enough support for the space station this year, Brown put them at 50-50.