On June 7, the House Appropriations Committee drafted
an FY 2001 VA-HUD appropriations bill that would provide mostly level
funding for R&D programs in the National Science
Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA), and the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). Although the Clinton Administration requested a $435 million
increase to the total NASA budget, the House would trim the request
and provide NASA with $13.7 billion, [0.4 percent or $58 million more
than FY 2000.] NASA's R&D would be cut below both the request and
the FY 2000 funding level.[NASA's R&D would fall 1.0 percent]
to $9.7 billion, primarily because of steep cuts in the Aero-Space Technology
program that would reduce its budget by nearly a quarter (see Table).
NASA programs in Space Science and Life and Microgravity Sciences would
receive substantial increases.
[On June 21, the full House approved the bill after
making several amendments, including one that reduced NASA's Human Space
Flight account by $25 million and the Science, Aeronautics and Technology
(SAT) account by $30 million to pay for an increase in veterans programs.
Another amendment shifted funds from Human Space Flight to SAT.]
The House FY 2001 VA-HUD bill would provide $76 billion
for discretionary programs, an increase over the $72 billion FY 2000
total, but the increase would go mostly to the bill's veterans and housing
programs, leaving flat funding for most R&D programs. The President
requested a far higher $85 billion for the bill's programs, including
substantial increases for NSF and a smaller one for NASA, but because
Congress chose to allocate only $605 billion for total discretionary
spending compared to the President's $622 billion, while at the same
time increasing defense spending more than the President, Congress has
far less money than the President to allocate for domestic programs
such as the ones in the VA-HUD bill.
Two-thirds of the NASA budget, which excludes the Space
Shuttle program and its associated costs, is classified as R&D.
[NASA's R&D would total $9.7 billion in the House plan, a reduction
of $97 million or 1.06 percent from FY 2000. Because the Space Shuttle
program would receive an increase, the total NASA budget of $13.7 billion
would be slightly higher (up 0.4 percent) than FY 2000.]
The Science, Aeronautics, and Technology (SAT)
account, which funds nearly all of NASA's R&D not related to the
Space Station, would receive $5.6 billion, [the same as FY 2000], but
there would be large differences in the funding trends of the various
SAT programs. Within SAT, Space Science would receive $2.4 billion,
a substantial [$175 million or 8.0 percent increase that falls just
$31 million short of the request.] The House would grant the entire
Space Science request except for the $20 million "Living with a
Star" initiative. This proposed new program seeks to understand
the sun's impact on the Earth and the space environment through a variety
of missions to study solar variability. The House bill notes that while
the initial $20 million cost would be low, its budget is projected to
rise to $177 million by FY 2005, and the House Appropriations Committee
requests a full review of the proposed program before considering the
funding request. The other planned Space Science missions would be able
to proceed, including the Mars programs.
Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications
(LMSA) would receive even more than requested for a total of [$326 million,
an increase of 18.7 percent.] This program funds ground and space-based
research to ultimately advance the safety and health of astronauts in
space, but covers investigations on a variety of life, medical, and
microgravity sciences research topics. The House would add $25 million
to the request for ground-based research, especially in the life sciences,
to prepare for space flight opportunities. The House bill urges NASA
to develop a more comprehensive plan for ensuring adequate life sciences
research time on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station.
Offsetting the above increases would be a substantial
cut in the Aero-Space Technology program. Total funding would
decline by nearly a quarter ([down 24.0 percent) from $1.1 billion to
$854 million,] in sharp contrast to a small increase in the request.
The House would reduce the request by [$339 million] but would preserve
funding for most programs within Aero-Space Technology, and would achieve
the savings by providing no funds for the $290 million request for the
Space Launch Initiative. The initiative, which funds research and development
efforts for reusable launch vehicle technology, would have to come to
a halt under the House plan. The House bill indicates no opposition
to the program itself, and in fact praises the program's efforts to
find alternatives to the Space Shuttle for space launches. The bill,
however, states that there are insufficient funds for the program, and
expresses hope that more funds will become available later in the appropriations
process.
The Earth Science program, formerly known as
the Mission to Planet Earth, would receive the requested amount of $1.4
billion, [3.1 percent] less than FY 2000. The Academic Programs
appropriation of $105 million would be a [24.4 percent] cut, but slightly
above the requested level because the FY 2000 appropriation contains
numerous congressionally designated projects, most of which would not
be renewed in the House bill.
[The House would provide $2.1 billion, nearly the same
as the request, for continued development and construction of the International
Space Station, $219 million less than FY 2000 because of a planned
reduction in costs. A proposed amendment to terminate the project failed
overwhelmingly on the House floor. The non-R&D Space Shuttle
program, however, would see its funding increase by 5.7 percent to $3.2
billion, as requested, in part to fund upgrades to the shuttle.]
[The VA-HUD bill was approved by the full House on
June 21 after long, contentious debates between Democrats and Republicans.
Most proposed Democratic amendments to boost funding levels failed.
A few amendments to shift funding betweeen programs were approved, including
one to reduce several NASA accounts to boost funding for veterans programs.]
The Senate has not drafted its version yet. The House bill is likely
to draw a veto threat because its funding levels fall far short of the
request, and because it would eliminate the Corporation for National
and Community Service, one of the Clinton Administration's high-priority
programs. Because of the unusually strong leverage the President has
in this election year, it is likely that final funding levels for VA-HUD
bill programs will be far higher than House-proposed levels before the
appropriations process is over. It is unclear whether NASA will receive
any extra funds, although it seems likely that the cuts to Aero-Space
Technology will be reversed.
- June 8, 2000 (revised June 22)
AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program
1200 New York Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 326-6607; -6600
science_policy@aaas.org
http://www.aaas.org/spp/R&D
