Report to supporters on Science Debate efforts on the Senate stimulus package science restoration initiative
February 6, 2009
Well it's been a long, long day with thousands of emails and phone calls, but we are happy to report that your efforts, and those of the rest of the U.S. science and technology community, have paid off in a big way - for the time being.
Senators Nelson, Collins, Lieberman and Specter held a press conference earlier this evening, also crediting Senator Snowe, and followed up by Senate Majority Leader Reid, declaring a compromise bill has been reached on the stimulus package. You can read the exact line items of the bill here in an xls document, but the parts we focused on today are below:
| Agency | Original Senate bill budget amt |
Proposed cut this morning | % prop cut | Cut in final compromise | % final cut | Final compromise bill budget amt | Science funding you preserved |
| NASA | $1,502,000,000 | $750,000,000 | 50 | $200,000,000 | 13.31 | $1,302,000,000 | $550,000,000 |
| NSF | $1,402,000,000 | $1,402,000,000 | 100 | $200,000,000 | 14.26 | $1,202,000,000 | $1,202,000,000 |
| NOAA | $1,222,000,000 | $427,000,000 | 34.94 | $200,000,000 | 16.37 | $1,022,000,000 | $227,000,000 |
| NIST | $575,000,000 | $218,000,000 | 37.91 | $100,000,000 | 17.39 | $475,000,000 | $118,000,000 |
| DOE enrgy effy & renewbl energy | $2,648,000,000 | $1,000,000,000 | 38 | 0 | 0 | $2,648,000,000 | $1,000,000,000 |
| DOE offc of science | $100,000,000 | $100,000,000 | 100 | $100,000,000 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | $7,449,000,000 | $3,897,000,000 | 52.32 | $800,000,000 | 10.74 | $6,649,000,000 | $3,097,000,000 |
This is a terrific $3 billion victory for U.S. Science - thank you!
This bill will be voted on by the full Senate on Monday. It could still fail then. But it reportedly has the strong support of President Obama, and if it passes it will form the (likely strongly prejudiced) basis for conference committee negotiations.
Let it be noted: Science Debate is made up of people of wide political diversity, and there are some of us who question whether research belongs in a stimulus package at all. Neither do we see Science Debate as a legislative advocacy initiative. However these are exceptional times with high stakes and there is no guarantee that the political appetite for new money will not be exhausted after this major package. Additionally, we believe scientific research is one of the best investments in stimulating economic growth in both the short and long term that this country can possibly make in a science-dominated global economy. Here are some ways these contemplated amounts are stimulative:
1.
Literally 'shovel ready': the American Physical Society identified
billions in 'shovel ready' science programs that include immediate
construction items associated with science. So, much of what is being
targeted as 'research' and therefore not stimulative, is in fact direct
stimulus for construction and expenditures.
2. Stimulus money for federal science funding agencies will translate
into support for thousands of graduate students and postdocs this year
and next year, as faculty who get funded hire them. This is a good way
to create high quality jobs right away and to invest in the future at
the same time. NSF supports over 2,000 institutions and reaches nearly
200,000 researchers, postdoctoral fellows, trainees, teachers, and
students every year.
3. Current economic conditions have hit the states particularly hard.
Many are experiencing severe budget constraints and growing job
losses. In many regions, universities and colleges are the main
employer, and the source of economic growth in local and regional
economies. Any additional funding targeted to NSF has an immediate and
direct effect on high-quality jobs and economic growth across
America.
4. A report, for example, from the Council for Chemical Research
concludes that a federal investment of $1 billion in R&D funding in
the chemical sciences can be leveraged into $40 billion in GNP and
600,000 jobs. NSF is the principal agency that supports research
across all disciplines of science and engineering, including the
chemical sciences.
Finally, as you may have heard Matthew announce today on Science Friday, after a year of delay, we received 501(c)(3) status today. Contributions made on or after January 7, 2008 are tax deductible.
Thanks! If you like our work and want us to continue, please Contribute Now.
-The team at ScienceDebate2008.com
LATER....
Quick followup -
Several people have emailed asking about the cuts to the proposed
increases to DOE/Office of Science, and what about NIH, USGS and other
agencies we didn't mention. Some clarifications are in order.
1. These are NOT agencies' existing budgets - this is about new money in addition to existing funding levels.
2. Science Debate only focused yesterday on the proposed CUTS to
the INCREASES proposed in the original SENATE bill. So we didn't
mention NIH funding increases, for example, which the amendment left
alone. Nor did we mention a $330M increase to DOE/Science, which the
amendment left alone. So DOE/Science DID get new money in this bill.
3. But the plot thickens still. Nor did we focus on differences
between the Senate bill and the House bill, of which there are many,
because they were not at issue in yesterday's negotiations. For
example, the House bill provides a $2B increase for DOE/science, and the
Senate bill as amended provides a $330M increase (after the $100M cut,
which was for "Government-wide supercomputers").
4. These differences will have to be worked out in conference
committee as the House and Senate versions of the bill are brought into
conformity. The reason this was still a victory for U.S. Science
yesterday despite the disappointing DOE/Science supercomputer cut is
because together we helped redeem $3B that was proposed to be cut. Had
the bill gone in with science whacked it would have been much more
difficult to make significant headway.
5. Anything can still happen. For example, DOE/Science could get
the $2B in the House bill, the $330M in the Senate version, or some
compromise in between - or even get whacked in conference, as could any
of it.
The full picture of the House bill, Senate bill, and Amended Senate bill across all agencies are in this spreadsheet:
http://bennelson.senate.gov/documents/Nelson-Collins%20Stimulus%20Final.xls
We encourage you to thank your Senators now, to express continued
concern over DOE/Science, and to continue to monitor the situation and
contact members of the conference committee in the coming week to
express your views.