Press Releases :: February 7, 2006

Gordon on the FY07 Science Budget: The Devil is in the Details

The Administration submitted its budget request to Congress this week for Fiscal Year 2007.   After careful analysis, Science Committee Democrats found that, "As usual, the devil is in the details."

"I thought the Administration was finally taking science funding and the role of science in the global marketplace seriously, but their budget proves the recognition given to the topic in the State of the Union address was not matched in the funding details,"  House Science Committee Ranking Member Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN).

"In plain terms, this may be a good budget for a few programs at DOE, NSF and NIST, but it’s not a good budget for science in general," charged Rep. Gordon.  "There appear to be cuts in science and technology research that more than offset the targeted increases of the President’s competitiveness initiative."

"Setting priorities is one thing, but what is confusing in this budget’s numbers is that FY07 priorities seem to be the losers from past year’s requests; and past winners have now become losers," added Rep. Gordon.  "This stop-start approach sends confusing signals to young people as they make career decisions and to researchers and Universities as they try to shape their programs to reflect federal direction."

The Administration’s FY07 budget request proposes to double the budget of the physical science portions of the National Institutes of Science and Technology (NIST), the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science and the general budget of the National Science Foundation (NSF) over ten years.  The Science Committee has been sounding the alarm for many years about the urgent need for increased investment in the physical sciences. 

These efforts culminated in P.L. 107-368, enacted in 2002, which set a path forward to strengthen the nation's lead in science and technology, workforce skills and innovation by doubling funding to the National Science Foundation.  However, due to the five-year lag between the President signing the bill (2002) and actually requesting funding (FY2007) - for NSF specifically - the Administration’s current proposed 7.9% increase is $3.8 billion, or 39%, below FY07 levels authorized by the Science Committee in 2002.  

According to Table 5-2 (below) in the Administration budget, the Federal Science and Technology (FST) request actually declines by 1% compared to the FY2006 funded level.  The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) commented this week that "if you see a decrease it’s due to [the removal] of earmarks."  Yet, Science Democrats’ preliminary review shows a 6% decrease for the FY07 NIST request from FY07 appropriated levels even after backing out earmarks; and funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would also decrease below FY06 enacted levels even when accounting for earmarks.

Science Democrats are actively reviewing the Administration’s claim that once earmarks are removed their request represents a 1% increase over FY06 for the Federal Science and Technology budget.   Regardless of whether the actual number is 1% above or 1% below - if NIST, NSF and DOE increases alone represent a 9% increase in the FST budget, the majority of other agencies and programs seem to have taken a dramatic cut to make room for this new initiative.

Rep. Gordon and Science Committee Democrats have actively pushed for the House to adopt measures that adequately fund science and technology at levels necessary to maintain America’s competitive edge.  Ranking Member Gordon has introduced the only House legislation that does what the President called for in his State of the Union Address and enacts the recommendations of Dr. Norm Augustine and the National Academy of Sciences panel.

The Gordon package includes H.R. 4434, 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act; H.R. 4435, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) Act; and H.R. 4596, Sowing the Seeds Through Science and Engineering Research Act.  Detailed summaries of each bill are available at http://sciencedems.house.gov.

Administration budget details discerned thus far are listed below.

Science Democrats analysis of the Administration’s budget (by science agency) found:

NSF: FY07 request is for $6.02 billion, $3.8 billion (39%) below FY2007 level authorized in P.L. 107-368.  Overall, FY07 would be the first substantial growth since the NSF doubling authorization bill enacted in 2002, but it is still below the 15% annual increase needed to meet a 5-year budget doubling profile as called for in the NSF authorization statute.  If the Administration’s plan is carried out, the original doubling goal would be met in 2013 rather than in FY07.

The request for the education directorate totals $816 million, which is 3.2% below FY05 appropriations levels and represents less than an inflationary increase (+2.5%) compared to FY06.  The request proposes continued phase-out of the K-12 Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program (-$17 million) and flat-funding for other K-12 and undergraduate education programs. 

NIST: FY07 request is 24% below FY06 appropriated levels.  Accounting for earmarks - $135 million - there is still a 6% decrease for NIST compared to the FY06 enacted levels.

As expected, the Administration proposed to eliminate ATP funding.  However, again this year the elimination request does not include close-out costs.  Last year close-out costs were $12-$18 million.  It seems likely that NIST will have to absorb some cost related to close-out of ATP. 

The FY07 request cuts MEP by 56% ($46.3 million) to $46.3 million.  A cut of this size means that less than half of the national network of MEP centers will be fully operating.

The request for the NIST lab account is not an increase of $72 million, as the Administration stated.   The $72 million is offset by a $58.3 million decrease in MEP funding.

NOAA: NOAA was again hard hit with an overall budget request of $3.68 billion, down from $3.85 billion in FY06 and $3.91 in FY05.

DOE: DOE would see its non-defense R&D funding increase substantially in FY07.  However, some programs within Federal Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office funding would decrease by a total of 18%, $111 million dollars.  Additionally, the Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas research fund would be terminated as part of the decision to terminate the discretionary Oil and Gas programs.

EPA: EPA’s research and development budget would decrease from $660 to $557 million (7%) in FY07. 

NASA: FY07 request is for $16.79 billion, a 1% increase over the funds appropriated for NASA in FY06.  It is $1.02 billion less than the amount the Administration said would be needed in FY07 when it rolled out its Moon-Mars initiative two years ago.  

The FY07 request continues a significant shift in funding from science and aeronautics to human space flight.  In that regard, approximately $3 billion is being cut from NASA’s science programs over the period FY 06-10 relative to what had been assumed in last year’s budget request for those years.  Aeronautics funding continues its downward spiral, forcing significant cuts to the budgets of NASA’s aviation safety program and its R&D program in support of the nation’s next generation air traffic management system.

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