House Boosts NSF Funding by $439 Million as First Installment in Doubling Initiative

June 30, 2006 -- The U.S. House of Representatives passed an appropriations bill that would begin to double the budget of the National Science Foundation (NSF) over the next ten years.  As the first installment in the doubling initiative, the bill would boost NSF funding by $439 million or 7.9 percent to $6.02 billion in fiscal year 2007. 

“The passage of this bill may be looked back on as a landmark moment in American history,” said Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Chairman of the House Science Committee.  “This bill put us on course to enact the President’s American Competitiveness Initiative, which will double the combined budgets of three key science agencies, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.” 

Research and Related Activities.  The House appropriations bill would increase funding for NSF’s Research and Related Activities by 7.7 percent or $334 million to $4.7 billion, the same amount proposed in the President’s budget request. 

Although the American Competitiveness Initiative focuses on the physical sciences and engineering, NSF plans to increase funding across its entire research portfolio.  The House bill does not provide specific funding allocations for NSF’s disciplinary directorates, but the agency is required to notify Congress if “there are any deviations from the allocations proposed in the President’s budget request.”  Under the President’s budget request, NSF’s disciplinary directorates would receive increases that range from 5.4 percent for Biological Sciences to 8.2 percent for Engineering. 

The House Appropriations Committee encouraged NSF to establish “innovation inducement prizes.”  The committee “strongly encourages NSF to use this mechanism, particularly in programs that specifically emphasize innovation, to focus on high risk/high payoff research projects.” 

Education and Human Resources.  The House Appropriations Committee believes that the American Competitiveness Initiative should be broadened to include NSF’s education programs:  “In light of the challenges facing the nation in improving math and science educational participation and achievement, the American Competitiveness Initiative must not only bolster the NSF’s basic research activities, but also its education programs.” 

Accordingly, the House appropriations bill would increase funding for NSF’s Education and Human Resources account to $832 million, which is $16 million above the President’s FY 2007 budget request and $36 million or 4.5 percent above the current funding level.  The $16 million increment above the President’s budget request would be allocated to the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program ($11 million), which provides scholarships to math and science majors in return for a commitment to teaching, and the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research ($5 million). 

Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction.  The House appropriations bill would increase NSF funding for Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) to $237 million, an increase of $46 million or 24.3 percent above the current funding level and slightly below the President’s budget request for FY 2007. 

This account would provide funding for several major projects that have the potential to generate scientific breakthroughs and transform the environmental sciences.  It would provide $11.8 million for initial implementation of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), $27.4 million for EarthScope, $42.9 million for the Scientific Ocean Drilling Vessel, and $9.1 million for the South Pole Station Modernization project.  Two new starts are the Alaska Region Research Vessel ($56.0 million) and the Ocean Observatories Initiative ($13.5 million), both of which would help fulfill the Administration’s 2004 U.S. Ocean Action Plan, developed in response to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 

Next Steps.  The House appropriations bill is pending before the Senate.  NCSE is working with the Coalition for National Science Funding to increase funding for all areas of research and education supported by NSF.  NCSE’s testimony in support of the NSF doubling initiative is available online at www.NCSEonline.org/SciencePolicy/. 

Craig Schiffries, Ph.D.
Director of Science Policy
National Council for Science and the Environment
1707 H Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20006
Tel: 202-530-5810
E-mail: policy@NCSEonline.org