FY94 Appropriations Conference Results

[David Farber <farber@central.cis.upenn.edu>]

>Date: 1 Oct 93  15:36 EST
>
>     On October 1, 1993, House and Senate appropriations conferees met
>     to resolve their differences concerning the FY 1994 VA, HUD, and
>     Independent Agencies Appropriations Act.  This bill contains the
>     appropriations for the National Science Foundation for fiscal
>     year 1994.
>     
>     For NSF, the conferees have agreed to provide a total of $3005.3
>     million -- an increase of $271.8 million or 10% over the FY 1993
>     level.  This is the largest increase for any agency in the bill,
>     and comes at a time when the subcommittee's allocation increased
>     by only 2% over last year's allocation level.
>     
>     For Research and Related Activities, the conferees have agreed to
>     provide $1986 million -- this represents an increase of $127
>     million or 7% over the FY 1993 level.  In taking the required
>     reduction, the conferees have agreed to a general reduction of
>     $204.5 million to be taken at the discretion of the Foundation.  
>     High Performance Computing and Communications is to be reduced by
>     $12.5 million from the request instead of the $50 million
>     originally proposed by the Senate.  The conferees deferred action
>     on the request for an arctic research vessel.  
>     
>     The Senate agreed to drop its prohibition on research centers and
>     eliminated the specific cuts in new centers in the Engineering
>     and Biological Science Directorates.  The conferees also dropped
>     the Senate earmark in the research account for a $1 million study
>     by the National Academy for Public Administration.  The conferees
>     agreed to retain the Senate's position that provides $5 million
>     for agile manufacturing.
>     
>     The conferees agreed to provide $100 million for academic
>     research infrastructure.  This amount is $45 million above the
>     budget request.
>     
>     In Education and Human Resources, the conferees agreed to provide
>     $569.6 million -- an increase of $82.1 million over the FY 1993
>     level and $13.5 million over the budget request.  The conferees
>     have made the following changes to the budget request:
>     
>          +$7.5 million for the Experimental Program to Stimulate
>     Competitive Research;
>     
>          +$10 million for the new advanced technological education
>     program geared to   community colleges;
>     
>          +$1.5 million to initiative a rural systemic reform
>     initiative in math and science     education;
>     
>          +$1 million for minority summer science camps; and
>     
>          -$6.5 million reduction from EHR activities.
>     
>     For polar research activities, the conferees have provided $158.1
>     million for the U.S. Polar Programs activity and $62.6 million
>     for Defense Department services in connection with the U.S.
>     Antarctic program.
>     
>     For the Critical Technologies Institute, the conferees have
>     provided $1.5 million, which is $500,000 more than the request. 
>     The additional funds are to be used to support performance
>     assessment activities as well as an evaluation by NAPA of NSF's
>     research centers.
>     
>     Finally, in Salaries and Expenses, the conferees have agreed to
>     provide $118.3 million.  This represents an increase of 7% over
>     last year.  In addition, the conferees provided, in a separate
>     account, the request for $5.2 million for relocation expenses. 
>     The conferees have provided $3.99 million for the Office of
>     Inspector General.  
>     
>     Additional details will be available once the conference report
>     is filed.  House and Senate floor action on the conference report
>     is expected to take place next week.  The table  below provides
>     additional details on the FY 1994 NSF budget request.
>     
>     Major Program            FY93 FY94 %Inc  House   Senate   Conf
>     
>     Research                 1859 2204  18%  2045    1940     1986
>     Education                 487  556  14%   570     570      570
>     Polar Programs            221  228   3%   221     221      221
>     Facilities & Instruments   50   55  10%    55     125      100
>     Other                     116  136  17%   131     127      128
>     ===============================================================
>     Total, NSF               2734 3180  16%  3024    2981     3005
>
>