Congress in Recess: Status of Appropriations Bills
Having passed both the spending and tax elements of their balanced-budget agreement with President Clinton, Members of Congress left the nation’s capitol a day early for their month-long August break. (Clinton signed the two budget bills, H.R. 2014 and H.R. 2015, into law on August 5.) When they return - the Senate on September 2, and the House on September 3 - Members will have just under a month to complete the 13 appropriations bills that fund government programs before the start of fiscal year 1998 on October 1.
Although the appropriations process got off to a late start this year due to ongoing negotiations over the budget agreement, lawmakers moved rapidly in July to draft versions of the spending bills. With overall spending limits dictated by the confines of the budget agreement, and a bipartisan spirit in the air, the Senate churned out 10 appropriations bills before leaving for August recess, and the House produced eight. Upon returning to Capitol Hill in September, Senators and Representatives will have to meet in a series of conferences to reconcile the differences in their separate versions of each bill. The status of selected bills that fund physics-related programs is reported below:
VA/HUD/INDEPENDENT AGENCIES: (H.R. 2158/S. 1034) Passed the House floor on July 16, the Senate floor on July 22. The House version would increase NSF’s Research and Related Activities (R&RA) by $23 million over the request and provide advance funding of $115 million for a complete upgrade of the South Pole Station. The Senate, with a smaller allocation, would only increase R&RA by $10 million over the request, and only provide the FY 1998 request ($25 million) for the South Pole Station. The House bill would increase NASA funding by $148 million above the request, give Human Space Flight $100 million above the request, fund space science and Mission to Planet Earth at the requested levels, and allow the NASA Administrator $150 million in transfer authority from other programs to the International Space Station if needed. The Senate would provide the requested amount for NASA, the space station, space science, and Mission to Planet Earth, and makes no mention of transfer authority for FY 1998 funds. (See FYIs #89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 94 , 95 .)
ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT: (H.R. 2203/S. 1004) Passed the Senate floor on July 16, the House floor on July 25. The Senate version would provide the requested amounts for High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, and Basic Energy Sciences, and increase magnetic fusion funding by $15 million above the request. The House bill would fund magnetic fusion and Basic Energy Sciences at the requested level, provide more than the request for Nuclear and High Energy Physics, and includes report language setting requirements for participation in LHC construction. (See FYIs #93 , 96 .)
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE: (H.R. 2267/S. 1022) Passed the Senate floor on July 29; reported out of the House Appropriations Committee on July 22, but has not been voted on by the full House yet. NIST’s core laboratory programs would receive the requested amount from the Senate and $6 million more than the request from the House. The Advanced Technology Program would receive less than its request from both chambers, as would the Manufacturing Extension Partnerships. The Senate provision for NIST construction approximately equals the request; the House Appropriations Committee would increase the construction request by almost $100 million in anticipation of a plan addressing NIST’s renovation needs. (See FYI #98 .)
NATIONAL SECURITY/DEFENSE: (H.R. 2266/S. 1055) Passed the Senate floor on July 15; passed the House floor on July 29. The Senate bill would provide more than the request for DOD Basic Research, while the House bill would provide $135.4 million less. Both chambers would increase funding for Exploratory Development. (See FYI #97 .)
