Update on Budget and Policy Actions
APPROPRIATIONS - YEAR END STRATEGY: “We’ll be here past Thanksgiving, past Christmas” predicts House Appropriations Ranking Minority Member David Obey (D-Wisconsin), referring to the completion of all the appropriations bills for FY 2000. Among those bills having difficulty moving to final passage is the one funding NSF and NASA. The Majority leadership is having trouble finding ways to fund next year’s appropriations without breaking the budget caps. Talk has now turned to passing short term funding for those departments and agencies lacking an enacted appropriations bill. The White House is warning that the degree to which the President will agree to sign such a bill depends upon how free it is of controversial riders.
APPROPRIATIONS - SPACE SCIENCE: The Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society released a statement this week on the Senate Appropriations Committee recommendation for space science funding. Entitled “NASA Budget Restored, But at Expense of Space Science,” the statement warns “present high profile spacecraft missions to solar system objects may be delayed or canceled and the ranks of our nation’s planetary scientists decimated as research and analysis programs are targeted to be reduced or eliminated to make up the budgetary cuts.”In addition to the $120 million cut, another $54 million in earmarks are contained in the Senate bill. The House bill was found to contain $290 millions in cuts and earmarks in the space science budget. The full Senate is now considering this bill.
APPROPRIATIONS - BASIC RESEARCH: Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) is asking his colleagues to join him in signing a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) about FY 2000 funding for basic science. The letter begins as follows: “We strongly support an increase in funding for basic scientific research in the fiscal year 2000 budget, and particularly ask that you do everything possible to reverse the funding cuts that have been put in the bills that have passed the House of Representatives to date. Increases in appropriations must occur in the budgets for the National Science Foundation, for the Office of Science of the Department of Energy, and for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.”The Ehlers letter to Speaker Hastert on basic research funding will be sent on September 30. Representatives are far more likely to sign such a letter if their constituents ask them to do so. The telephone number of the U.S. Capitol is 202- 225-3121.
APPROPRIATIONS - ARCTIC RESEARCH: An alert reader informed us that our summary of the NSF portion of the Senate Appropriations Committee report should have included an additional sentence. Please note this fuller recommendation: “The Committee remains committed to the U.S. Arctic Research Programs and recommends $25,000,000 for arctic logistics needs. These funds are to be provided directly to the Arctic Research Commission, which will be responsible for allocating arctic logistics funds.”This commission advises twelve federal agencies funding Arctic research.
APPROPRIATIONS - F-22: Despite high-level meetings on Capitol Hill, negotiators have not found a way to resolve the controversy over the House’s decision to eliminate $1.8 billion in FY 2000 funding for the F-22. This money made it possible for the House to increase budgets for other programs in next year’s Pentagon’s budget, including R&D.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS LABS REORGANIZATION: Both the House and Senate have passed the FY 2000 defense authorization bill containing provisions to reorganize the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons laboratories (see FYI #129.) This massive bill now moves to the White House. One White House spokesperson said, “I think we continue to have concerns. There’s obviously things in the bill that we like. So we’re going to look at this, and when we have a decision, we’ll let you know.” The legislation passed by overwhelming, and veto-proof margins in the House and Senate.
