FY 2014 Appropriations: National Science Foundation
The FY 2014 appropriations cycle is coming to a close. On Monday evening the text of an almost 1,600 page bill was released that was the product of intense negotiations between the House and Senate Appropriations Committees since a budget agreement was announced in December. The omnibus bill, consisting of twelve separate appropriations bills, is expected to pass the House and Senate and sent to President Obama within the next few days.
Accompanying the omnibus bill is an Explanatory Statement detailing program funding levels and new language about various programs. Under congressional protocol, previous report language for the House and Senate versions of their FY 2014 bills regarding the NSF stands unless it is contradicted by new language in the just-issued Explanatory Statement. The Statement is not in final form as it includes hand-written notations; the section on the NSF is on PDF page 119.
The following language and program funding levels are taken from the just-released Explanatory Statement. The Explanatory Statement does not include current FY 2013 funding levels; those shown are from the FYI describing the House report referenced above. Note that the committee reports and the Explanatory Statement did not include post-sequestration program funding levels for FY 2013 (generally a 5 percent reduction.)
TOTAL NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION:
The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory 5 percent reduction) is $7,239.8 million
The FY 2014 request was $7,625.8 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $7,171.9 million
RESEARCH AND RELATED ACTIVITIES:
The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory 5 percent reduction) is $5,859.2 million
The FY 2014 request was $6,212.3 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $5,808.9 million
The Explanatory Statement includes the following language:
“Terminations and reductions. - NSF’s R&RA termination and reduction proposals are incorporated unless specifically noted otherwise in this statement or in language in either the House or Senate report that is not modified or superseded by this statement.
“International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). - The agreement provides the requested amount for IODP.
“Cross-Foundation initiatives. - Limits on the implementation of OneNSF initiatives as proposed in the Senate report are not included. However, future growth in interdisciplinary research should not come at the expense of adequate support for infrastructure and core research programs in each of NSF’s individual scientific disciplines. NSF is urged to assess and refine the balance among these activities in its budget request for fiscal year 2015 and future years.”
MAJOR RESEARCH EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES CONSTRUCTION:
The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory 5 percent reduction) is $192.1 million
The FY 2014 request was $210.1 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $200.0 million
The Explanatory Statement includes the following language:
“Funds are provided at the request level for all projects for which construction has already begun, and remaining funds are for the initiation of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) project. If NSF determines that LSST requires additional funding in fiscal year 2014, NSF may submit a transfer proposal to provide such funds.”
EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCES:
The FY 2013 budget (not including the mandatory 5 percent reduction) is $877.0 million
The FY 2014 request was $880.3 million
The FY 2014 agreement provides $846.5 million
The Explanatory Statement includes the following language:
“Terminations and reductions. - NSF’s EHR termination and reduction proposals are incorporated unless specifically noted otherwise in this statement or in language in either the House or Senate report that is not modified or superseded by this statement.
“Broadening participation programs. - The agreement includes funding at the fiscal year 2013 current plan level for Centers for Research Excellence in Science and Technology and at the Senate level for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program, the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program and the Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate.
“NSF shall comply with both House direction to report on current and potential future efforts to meet the needs of Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) through existing NSF programs and Senate direction to consider the establishment of an HSI-specific program similar to NSF’s other broadening participation programs.
