Cornell's Office of Government and Community Relations seeks to inform the Cornell community about relevant federal government actions of critical importance to Cornell programs and research budgets. To that end, the Chronicle will begin publishing a new column, Legislative Update, which will appear periodically. The updates below reflect the status of legislation at press time.
By Mike Lepage
The U.S. Congress is in recess until Sept. 7. Only the defense appropriations bill received final Congressional passage before the recess. The Senate has yet to act on most of the other legislation.
The following updates on specific appropriations all compare current actions with fiscal year (FY) 2004 appropriations, not with the president's proposals.
Education: The House bill increases funding for Pell Grants by 6.9 percent, but maintains the maximum award at $4,050. However, all other financial aid programs receive only small increases (between 0 and 3 percent) to cover inflation and increased administrative expenses. Funding for Perkins Loans capital contributions is eliminated completely.
Agriculture: The House version of the bill increases funding for most Cornell programs, some as much as 20 percent. Funding for the Department of Agriculture's National Research Initiative is boosted by $15 million to a total of $180 million, and the budget for the cross-departmental Homeland Security Program is more than doubled to $18 million. However, the Hatch program's budget barely increases (from $180 million to $180.5 million) and the Smith-Lever program's funding is reduced (from $279 million to $277 million). For Cornell specific programs, $6 million is allocated toward the future construction of a new Center for Grape Genetics Research in Geneva and a new Center for Health-Based Crop Genomics in Ithaca. The Urban Silviculture project, the Urban Market Development program and the multi-state Viticulture Consortium are among the projects with the biggest funding increases. All other Cornell-specific projects receive either an increase or level funding from the previous year. The bill also provides for an increase in the indirect cost rate for USDA research projects. In FY '03 USDA funded $17.9 million in research at Cornell.
Energy: Department of Energy (DOE) spending was increased just 2 percent in this year's House energy bill, as money was shifted to dam building and irrigation projects. DOE funding has been slowly increasing at Cornell over the past several years. However, the energy subcommittee rejected the Bush administration's request to freeze funding for DOE science programs at FY '04 levels. Total science spending is increased by $168.2 million to a total of $3.6 billion. Biological and environmental research receives a hefty increase of $75 million, to a total of $571.6 million. High-energy physics, nuclear physics, basic energy sciences (including material and nanoscale sciences) and the Advanced Scientific Computing Center all receive modest increases. Funding is reduced for DOE's Office of Electricity Transmission and Distribution ($6.5 million less than FY '04 levels), although the office's R&D budget is stable. In FY '03, DOE funded $5 million in research at Cornell.
Homeland Security: The research budget for the Department of Homeland Security receives a $194 million boost in the House bill and a $150 million increase in the Senate bill, to totals of slightly over $1 billion. The House also reverses the administration's proposed $40 million cut to university research centers and fellowships, restoring funds to FY '04 levels.
Defense: Basic and applied research is treated well in the final defense appropriations bill, which cleared a House and Senate conference committee July 21. Army basic research is funded at $408.2 million, an increase of $26.6 million (7 percent), while applied research receives a $118 million boost (11.6 percent), to $1.16 billion. Total Army R&D comes to $10.7 billion, a $497 million increase (4.9 percent). Naval basic research receives a small increase (2.5 percent), to $496 million, while applied research spending is increased at a much larger 14.1 percent ($102.1 million), to a total of $825.8 million. Total Naval R&D is increased by $2.1 billion, to $17 billion. Air Force basic research is increased 9.4 percent ($31.2 million), to $362.4 million and applied research receives a 6.8 percent increase ($61.2 million), to $957.9 million. $20.9 billion is appropriated to total Air Force R&D spending, a 2.9 percent increase ($597 million). Defense-wide research programs (including DARPA) receive some of the biggest increases. Basic research is increased by 19 percent ($39.5 million), to $246.5 million, while applied research receives $2.01 billion, an increase of 14 percent ($247 million). Total defense-wide R&D is increased by $2.1 billion to $21 billion. In FY '03, DOD funded $23.2 million in research at Cornell.
National Endowment for the Humanities: The House bill increases NEH funding by $6.7 million, to $142 million. Preliminary Senate action indicates level funding from FY '04.
National Endowment for the Arts: A floor amendment was passed that increases NEA funding in the House bill by $10 million, to $130.9 million.
National Institutes of Health: After several years of large budget increases, the NIH's boom years are clearly over. The House bill adopts the administration recommendation of a 2.7 percent increase ($764 million) for NIH, to $28.8 billion. When adjusted for biomedical inflation (3.5 percent last year), this year's NIH budget is smaller than last year's. Moreover, 258 additional grants are expected to be distributed by NIH, resulting in even smaller funds for current recipients. The number of research trainees is increased by 225 to 17,791, although stipends are frozen. In FY '03, NIH funded $158.9 million in research at Cornell.
National Science Foundation, NASA: With very tight spending caps and demands for more veterans spending, the NSF and NASA do not fare well in the House version of the VA-HUD-Independent Agencies bill. NSF receives a $111 million cut, to $5.5 billion ($4.2 billion for research), and NASA is cut $229 million, to $15.1 billion. The NASA cuts come from the elimination of funding for new initiatives, specifically $230 million from Project Prometheus related to Jupiter Icy Moon Orbital, $438 million from delaying the Crew Exploration Vehicle and $100 million from Space Launch Initiatives. Mars programs are fully funded at $691 million. In FY '03, NSF funded $94.8 million in research at Cornell, while NASA funded $131.4 million.
| Cornell Chronicle Front Page | | Table of Contents | | Cornell News Service Home Page |