House VA/HUD Appropriations Subcommittee Marks Up Bill
The House VA/HUD/Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Jerry Lewis (R-CA), on July 10 marked up its version of the FY 1996 appropriations bill funding NSF and NASA, among other agencies. While the Department of Housing and Urban Development and EPA reportedly received the largest cuts, few programs remained unscathed. Both NSF and NASA would be subject to some reductions.
According to reports, NSF would receive a total of $3.16 billion for FY 1996, compared to a request of $3.36 billion. NSF’s current-year budget is $3.26 billion. This reduction of $200 million from the request would be taken entirely from the Research and Related Activities (R&RA) Account. Under the bill, R&RA would receive $2.25 billion. (Current R&RA funding is $2.28 billion; the FY96 request is $2.45 billion.)
NSF’s other accounts would all receive their full FY 1996 requests, as shown below (amounts are in millions):
FY95 |
FY96 |
VA/HUD |
|
Funding |
Request |
Bill |
|
Total NSF |
$3,263 |
3,360 |
3,160 |
R&RA |
2,280 |
2,454 |
2,254 |
Education/Hum Resources |
606 |
599 |
599 |
Acad. Res. Infrastructure |
118 |
100 |
100 |
Major Res. Equipment |
126 |
70 |
70 |
Salaries/Expenses |
124 |
127 |
127 |
Relocation |
5 |
5 |
5 |
Inspector General |
4 |
5 |
5 |
NASA would reportedly receive about $13.54 billion, a reduction of $720 million from the FY 1996 request of $14.26 billion. Current-year NASA funding is $14.46 billion. In its bill, the subcommittee provided the requested amounts for the following programs: the space shuttle (request: $3,232 million), the space station (request: $1,833 million plus additional funding within life and microgravity sciences), the reusable launch vehicle (request: $159 million), and the Earth Observing System (request: $591 million). However, the bill would cancel the Cassini mission to Saturn (request: $192 million), and delay funding for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) and the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF).
The subcommittee also recommended closure of three NASA centers by the beginning of fiscal year 1998: Goddard Space Flight Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Langley Research Center. It proposed transferring Goddard’s functions to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
The VA/HUD appropriations bill is currently scheduled to be taken up by the full House Appropriations Committee on July 18. It is expected to move to the House floor shortly after the committee mark-up.
