On Friday we noted that the Republican Congressional leadership had effectively given up hope of resolving the 11 outstanding appropriations bills for FY 2007, including the bills that would provide the increases in science funding called for in the American Competitiveness Initiative we've talked about so frequently in this space. Instead, Congress passed a "continuing resolution" that would fund government at FY 2006 levels or lower through February 15, 2007, when the new Democratic leadership would be able to take its crack at passing the unfinished bills.
Now it appears the Democrats have decided against trying to complete the process. CQ.com (sub. req'd) reports today that Rep. David Obey (D-WI) and Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), the incoming chairs of the House and Senate appropriations committees, have given up hope of solving the FY 2007 impasse and elected to move a yearlong stopgap measure when the new Congress convenes next year:
"Unfortunately, there are no good options available to us to complete the unfinished work of the Republican Congress," Obey and Byrd said. “After discussions with our colleagues, we have decided to dispose of the Republican budget leftovers by passing a yearlong joint resolution.This is obviously bad news for those of us in the science community who have worked hard to win increases contained in the ACI and in the House and Senate FY 07 appropriations bills. Unless ACI merits inclusion among "the nation's most important policy concerns," it's likely that the increases that had been slated for NSF, NIST and the DOE Office of Science in FY 07 will be lost and the timetable for doubling the research funding for those agencies set back another year."We will do our best to make whatever limited adjustments are possible within the confines of the Republican budget to address the nation’s most important policy concerns."
CRA, along with many members of the science and high-tech industry communities, will be working hard over the next few weeks to make just that case -- that the increases called for in the ACI and the Democratic Innovation Agenda do merit inclusion among the nation's most important policy concerns. There's a chance the Democratic leadership will agree -- though I'm not going to go out on a limb and try and assess that chance yet. The innovation agenda has been one of the top Democratic priorities and was something that incoming Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has indicated would be among the first issues considered under the new Congress.
We'll bring you updates as we get further information and also detail ways in which you can help make the case for research. For now, if you haven't become a member of CRA's Computing Research Advocacy Network, this would be a great time to join. We're going to need your help....
Though CRA -- along with lots of other members of the science community (and a whole lot of other constituencies) -- pressed for Congress to complete its work on the FY 07 appropriations before adjourning, it appears that the outgoing congressional leadership has decided to punt the process to the new Democratic congress. Congress is set to vote today on a new "Continuing Resolution" that will fund the operations of government through February 15th at FY 2006 levels, with only one exception for veteran's health care (which will get a $3 billion bump in the CR). CRA joined with a number of scientific groups in using our advocacy networks to try and pressure Congress to either finish the appropriations bills -- which contain hard-won increases for science as part of the President's American Competitiveness Initiative -- or, if necessary, pass a continuing resolution that contains the agreed-to increases as "exceptions" to the CR. CRA activated its CRAN network to call members of Congress in their district offices and ask them to pressure their leadership to pass the approps bills or pass a CR that included the ACI increases. However, the science community wasn't alone in asking for "exceptions" for its favored programs. The pressure on Congress from a large number of "special interest" groups fighting for exceptions was strong enough that it appears the leadership just decided that it was easier just to sharply limit what gets excluded from the CR -- limiting it only to the VA program increase.
There is some cost to the community as a result of this. The agencies who who benefit from ACI-related increases won't likely receive the increased funding they would have gotten for the months that pass while they operate under the CR, effectively delaying the start of the ACI ramp-up until after Congress finally gets the appropriations done. And of course, until Congress gets the appropriations bills figured out, agencies are sharply constrained in the number of new programs they can start and, in some cases, the new personnel they can hire.
But it does appear that Congress is still committed to the ACI goals and that the increases will be in the bills once they're eventually passed. There is a "worst case" scenario that the appropriators will feel overwhelmed with the prospect of having to complete two fiscal years worth of appropriations in an 8 month period and just "CR" the entire FY 07 -- skip it, and move right to FY 08. It doesn't appear that's very likely, but we'll continue to keep an eye on it (and continue to advocate against it, of course.) Whether they just bundle the outstanding appropriations bills as an omnibus or try to pass them individually under "regular order," the conventional wisdom is that the new Democratic congress will act quickly in February to get it done and begin work on the FY 08 appropriations process.
Google announced today that the 2007-2008 Google Anita Borg Scholarship will be $10,000 for women recipients in the United States and that it is expanding to Europe this year with a €5,000 scholarship for recipients in Europe. All the details can be found on the Google Blog. The deadline for applications is January 15, 2007.
You can learn more about Anita Borg and her contributions to women's involvement in technology development at the Anita Borg Institute.