3-Year Trends in Appropriations for Selected Programs: FY96-99
Looking back at appropriations over several years - in constant dollars - gives a perspective on funding trends for a program or agency. Below, for selected programs, the fiscal year 1996 and fiscal year 1999 appropriations are compared. The appropriations levels for FY 1996 have been adjusted for inflation, and are shown in (estimated) constant 1999 dollars, based on Department of Commerce deflators. The selected agencies and programs are ranked by how their budgets have grown in real terms over the three year period.
The results are mixed. NIST programs appear at the top and bottom of the comparison: Funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership has grown in real terms as additional centers have been built and the prohibition on federal funding after the sixth year has been dropped. The Advanced Technology Program, ideologically opposed by many Republicans, has suffered since the GOP gained the congressional majority. DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences, second from the bottom, has gone through difficult times since its funding was cut by one-third in the FY 1996 appropriation.
Agency/ FY 1996 FY 1999 % Change
Program Approp. (Adjusted) Approp. FY96-99
(In millions of constant-year 1999 dollars)
NIST Manufacturing
Extension Partshp. $86 107 +24.4%
NSF Research &
Related Activs. 2,490 2,770 +11.3
NSF Total 3,465 3,670 +5.9
DOD Applied Research 3,057 3,189 +4.3
NSF Education &
Human Resources 645 662 +2.6
DOE Nuclear Physics 328 335 +2.1
NIST Scientific &
Technical Research
& Services 279 280 +0.4
DOE High Energy
Physics 718 697 -2.9
NIST Total 667 647 -3.0
DOE Basic Energy
Sciences 852 809 -5.1
DOD Basic Research 1,184 1,113 -6.0
NASA Human Space
Flight 5,873 5,480 -6.7
NASA Total 14,963 13,665 -8.7
NASA Science,
Aeronautics & Tech. 6,381 5,654 -11.4
DOE Fusion Energy
Sciences 263 230 -12.6
NIST Advanced
Technology Prog. 238 204 -14.3
Keep in mind that absolute increases or decreases do not always tell the whole story; budget levels may fluctuate due to a change in program content within an account, or due to the initiation or completion of a project.
