COMPUTING RESEARCH POLICY BLOG

The need for all science researchers to respond to CRA’s call to contact Congress regarding the stimulus has become even more urgent today. The New York Times is reporting that Senators Ben Nelson (NE) and Susan Collins (ME) are seeking to cut the stimulus by $200 billion, and $1 billion for NSF is apparently on the hit list (though it’s not clear if that comes from Collins and Nelson or other sources). The full story is here but action is needed immediately on the part of the research community. CRA’s call to action tells you how to help.
Update: (2/7/09) — Thanks to all who weighed in! The majority of the NSF increase in the bill has been preserved.

The folks at the Alliance for Science and Technology Research in America (ASTRA) have done a fantastic job ferreting out every federal research-related account in either the House or Senate version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and comparing the funding levels between the two bills. The comparison shows that, overall, the House version has more generous numbers, especially in some accounts important to the computing community at NSF and DOE Science (though both versions contain $100 million increase to Advanced Scientific Computing Research in DOE Sc). Check out the chart and explanatory notes here.
Kei Koizumi of AAAS has another good comparison here.
Both make it clear that there are real differences of opinion in the two chambers on how science should be supported in the stimulus. That’s why it’s important to weigh in with your Members of Congress to make sure science remains a priority in the bill!