Final NIST FY 2000 Appropriations Numbers

The Commerce, Justice, and State appropriations bill for FY 2000 (H.R. 3421), which funds NIST, received President Clinton’s signature on November 29, almost two full months after the start of the 2000 fiscal year. The bill was signed as part of a large catch-all omnibus measure for all the remaining appropriations bills. Ultimately, the details of the NIST appropriations did not change from the levels agreed to by House and Senate conferees, but vetoed by Clinton for reasons unrelated to NIST, in October. Therefore, the conference report language remains in effect to describe the intentions of Congress with respect to NIST. Total NIST funding for FY 2000 of $638.9 million falls 1.3 percent below the FY 1999 level and 10.2 percent below the President’s request. NIST’s intramural laboratories received more than last year but less than requested. The controversial Advanced Technology Program was cut drastically, but Congress provided more than requested for both NIST construction and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. One factor not taken into account in the above analysis is a 0.38-percent across-the-board cut to all discretionary spending, which congressional Republicans insisted upon in the final omnibus bill. Agencies have flexibility in determining how to implement this cut across their programs, as long as no program is reduced by more than 15 percent. Below is selected text from the conference report (H. Report I 06-398), which also does not incorporate the 0.38 reduction: SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH AND SERVICES: STRS, comprising NIST’s in-house laboratories and the Malcolm Baldrige Award, received $283.1 million. This represents a 1.1 percent increase over last year. but a 2.2 percent decrease from the request. Of that amount, $4.9 million is for the Baldrige Award program. According to the report, “the increase provided in the conference agreement above fiscal year 1999 is largely to fund increases in base requirements. The conference agreement also includes sufficient funding for selected program increases for the highest priority programs in computer science and applied mathematics and in technology assistance, and $1,600,000 to continue the disaster research program on effects of windstorms on protective structures and other technologies begun in fiscal year 1998.” ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM: ATP received $142.6 million, a cut of 29.9 percent from last year, and of 33.7 percent from President Clinton’s revised request of $215.0 million. The conference report explains: “At the end of fiscal year 1999, the Administration revised the overall level requested for the program downward from $251,500,000 to $215,000,000, in part because the amount awarded for new grants in fiscal year 1999 totaled ... $24,500.000 below the amount available for new awards. The amount of carryover into fiscal year 2000 was also substantially higher than had been anticipated . The requested level of new awards for fiscal year 2000 was also revised downward from $73,000,000 to $54.700,000. The funding levels contained in the conference agreement were considered in response to that revised request.” The conferees designate "(1) $115.100.000 for continued funding requirements for awards made in fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999, to be derived from $46,700,000 in fiscal year 2000 funding; $64,600,000 from excess balances available from prior years, and $3,800,000 in anticipated deobligations in fiscal year 2000; (2) $50,700,000 for new awards in fiscal year 2000; and (3) $45,200,000 for administration, internal NIST lab support and Small Business Innovation Research requirements.” MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP: MEP received $104.8 million, 1.9 percent less than FY 1999 funding but 5.0 percent over the request. The report states, “the conference agreement does not contain the limitation on a Center’s level of funding proposed in the House bill.... The conferees concur with the Senate direction that the Northern Great Plains Initiative e-commerce project should assist small manufacturers for marketing and business development purposes in rural areas.” CONSTRUCTION OF RESEARCH FACILITIES: An appropriation of $108.4 million was designated for construction and upgrades, up 1.5 percent from the request and 91.2 percent from last year, largely due to $84.9 million in construction funding for the Advanced Metrology Laboratory. “This will provide the balance of funds needed to initiate construction [of the AML]. Total funding available for construction, including funding provided in previous years is $203,300,000. The conference agreement includes bill language making the $84,916,000 provided for this Laboratory available upon submission of a spending plan in accordance with Section 605 of this Act. “In addition, $11,798,000 is provided for safety, capacity, maintenance and major repair of NIST facilities.” Also under the construction account, $11.7 million is earmarked for the following projects: $2.0 million for the Institute at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire; $0.7 million for the New Hampshire State Library; and $9.0 million to fund a cooperative agreement with the Medical University of South Carolina. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire) is the chair of the Senate Commerce, Justice, and State appropriations subcommittee, and Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-South Carolina) is the ranking minority member. The National Technical Information Service (NTIS), like NIST a part of the Commerce Department’s Technology Administration, received no funding for FY 2000. The Administration had requested $2.0 million. (See FYI #139 for further information on NTIS.)