Science Numbers in the FY11 Continuing Resolution


On Friday, the House and Senate leadership, along with the White House, reached an agreement on a final budget for the federal government through September 30, 2011 (or FY11, for short). The agreement helped avert a government shutdown over the weekend and will finally give federal agencies some certainty about the funding they’ll have available for the remainder of the fiscal year. While the agreement doesn’t cut federal science budgets nearly as deeply as the continuing resolution the House approved in February, science agencies won’t see any increases under the plan. Here’s a quick summary of what the agreement both chambers will likely approve this week will do to some key science agencies:

The National Science Foundation, which had been slated to receive a $140 million cut under the original House-approved plan, would  instead see a cut of $43 million (or 0.8 percent) to its research accounts in FY11 compared to the levels approved for FY10 — a full $444 million less than the President requested in his FY11 budget. NSF’s Education and Human Resources directorate would see a cut of $10 million vs. FY10, $29 million less than the President’s request.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology would see a $7 million cut in FY11 compared to FY10 — a $77 million reduction from the President’s requested level.

DOE’s Office of Science, which had faced a $1.1 billion cut in the original House plan, would instead see a decrease of $35 million in FY11 compared to FY10. This is $252 million less than the President requested.

We’ll have more details on the progress of the bill and a look at the defense R&D it contains in the next update.

Science Numbers in the FY11 Continuing Resolution