Uncertain Waters: National Science Foundation Outlook

“The differences in discretionary spending between Congress and the White House are so large it is likely that the struggle with FY 96 appropriations may pale when compared to the battle for FY 97 appropriations.” -- House Budget Committee staff memo to the House leadership

It will not be until around Memorial Day that the outline of the FY 1997 appropriation for the National Science Foundation comes into focus. A pre-recess hearing of the House Subcommittee on Basic Research on NSF gives early warning that the foundation’s budget request for the next fiscal year may encounter some static.

NSF Director Neal Lane and Deputy Director Anne Petersen were the only witnesses at this hearing on the FY 1997 NSF Authorization. Lane discussed the foundation’s over-all budget increase request of 4.6%, the 8.7% increase sought for Research and Related Activities spending, and the proposed termination of the Academic Research Infrastructure Program.

Subcommittee members were almost uniformly complimentary toward the foundation. Chairman Steven Schiff (R-NM) said his questions did not amount to “serious criticism,” asking about the Academic Research Infrastructure Program. He also referenced a subcommittee staff chart showing deeper cuts in discretionary spending under the administration’s budget projections in future years, asking how it would affect future NSF spending. Schiff asked about a report that the foundation was considering providing money for a proposed fictionalized television show about scientists. “I would...offer a caution” about such funding, Schiff said.

Rep. Bill Baker (R-CA) was much more combative. He charged the administration’s proposed increase in the NSF budget was an “election year blip.” Looking at the staff chart and the administration’s projected cuts in over-all discretionary spending, Baker said “after four years, you really go in the toilet.” He pressed Lane to “take the blip” out, saying “the rest of the House is not going to let us do it.” His pleas to Lane were ineffectual, Lane saying it would be “irresponsible” of him to suggest reductions in science and technology spending. To which Baker replied, if NSF funding is going to be a partisan issue, he would “wave” the proposed television show “like a bloody shirt.”

The House VA, HUD Appropriations Subcommittee intends to finish work on its FY 1997 bill by Memorial Day. It is predicted, as the above quotation from the House Budget Committee staff memo warns, that this is going to be another difficult year. A remark made by Chairman Schiff at the beginning of his hearing is worth repeating: “The science community is going to have to make its voice heard if it is going to be treated fairly.”