Results of FY 1996 Appropriations Process
As the fiscal year 1997 appropriations process gets underway (see FYI #84), a look back at the results of the FY 1996 process might prove informative. FYI #87 will compare how well, or poorly, selected departments and agencies did, based on the percent change from FY 1995 to FY 1996 appropriations.
Nearly seven months after the start of fiscal year 1996 on October 1, 1995, Congress and the President completed the last appropriations for the year. After several government shutdowns and 14 continuing resolutions to keep the government running, on April 26 President Clinton signed H.R. 3019, an omnibus bill that provided funding for all federal departments and agencies for which appropriations bills had not yet been passed. This bill included funding for NSF, NASA, and NIST.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION:
NSF received a total of $3.220 billion for FY 1996. This is a decrease of 4.2 percent from Clinton’s FY 1996 request of $3.360 billion, and also a decrease of 4.2 percent from NSF’s FY 1995 budget of $3.361 billion.
Research and Related Activities (R&RA) within NSF received $2.314 billion for FY 1996, a decrease of 5.7 percent from the Administration’s request of $2.454 billion, but a 3.1 percent increase from the FY 1995 R&RA budget of $2.245 billion.
NSF Education programs received $599 million, equal to the President’s request, and 1.2 percent below FY 1995 funding of $606 million.
NASA:
NASA received a total of $13.904 billion in the FY 1996 omnibus appropriations bill. This is a 2.5 percent reduction from the request of $14.260 billion, and a 3.3 percent reduction from the space agency’s FY 1995 budget of $14.377 billion.
Within NASA, Human Space Flight was funded at $5.457 billion for FY 1996, a decrease of 1.0 percent from the request of $5.510 billion and a 1.1 percent decrease from the FY 1995 appropriation of $5.515 billion. Within this account, the Space Station received $2.144 billion, an increase of 1.4 percent from the $2.115 billion request, and 1.1 percent from FY 1995 funding of $2.121 billion.
Science, Aeronautics and Technology, the account which includes space science, received $5.929 billion. While this is a decrease of 1.3 percent from the request of $6.007 billion, it is a 0.7 percent increase over FY 1995 funding of $5.891 billion.
NIST:
Within the Department of Commerce, which was also funded under the omnibus bill, NIST received a total of $620 million for FY 1996. NIST funding was reduced significantly, dropping by 39.4 percent from President Clinton’s FY 1996 request of $1,023 million, and by 11.6 percent from NIST’s FY 1995 budget of $701 million. The NIST budget includes $221 million for the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), intended to allow continued funding for multi-year grants awarded in previous years; many Republicans wanted to kill off ATP completely.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY:
Funding for the Department of Energy was not provided in the omnibus bill; DOE’s FY 1996 appropriations bill was signed on November 13, little more than a month after FY 1996 began. DOE received $15.390 billion for FY 1996. This is a decrease of 7.2 percent from the request of $16.583 billion, and a decrease of 1.1 percent from DOE’s FY 1995 budget of $15.563 billion.
Within DOE, High Energy Physics received $667.0 million. This is a decrease of 2.7 percent from the request of $685.6 million, but a 3.9 percent increase over the FY 1995 budget of $642.1 million.
Nuclear Physics received $304.5 million for FY 1996. This is a 5.2 percent decrease from the request of $321.1 million, and an 8.2 percent drop from FY 1995 funding of $331.5 million.
Fusion Energy, funded at $244.1 million for FY 1996, received one of the largest reductions of any science program. Its budget decreased 33.3 percent from the request of $366.1 million, and 34.5 percent from the FY 1995 budget of $372.6 million.
Basic Energy Sciences received $791.7 million, a decrease of 2.4 percent from the request of $811.4 million, but a 5.9 percent increase over FY 1995 funding of $747.3 million.
