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[IP] President to Request Slight Increase for NSF, says NY Times



------ Forwarded Message
From: Peter Harsha <harsha@xxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 2005 10:24:42 -0500
To: <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: President to Request Slight Increase for NSF, says NY Times

For IP?

Just posted this to the Computing Research Policy Blog
[http://www.cra.org/govaffairs/blog/index.php ]:

Here's the original NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/05/politics/05cuts.html?
ex=1265259600&en=9e29f1ce6b837f69&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

President to Request Slight Increase for NSF, says NY Times

The New York Times reports today that the President will include a
request for a slight increase to the National Science Foundation when
he delivers his budget plan to Congress on Monday. The Times, which had
reported that NSF's budget would be flat -- an improvement over an
initial OMB passback that called for a 5 percent cut for the agency --
reports that the President will request $5.6 billion for NSF in FY 06,
an increase of 2.4 percent over FY 05.

The increase, though small, would appear to make up the ground lost by
the agency after Congress elected to cut funding by 2 percent in FY 05.
However, coupled with the rate of inflation, the small increase is
actually closer to flat-funding the agency, or even a slight
real-dollar decrease.

Still, any increase in a budget which is otherwise rumored to be quite
austere is symbolic, indicating areas where the Administration places
priority. The Times also reports that the National Institutes of
Health, which saw its budget double over the last six years, will
receive only a 0.7 percent increase in the President's request.

The President's budget is only the first step in the annual budget
cycle. Once the President reveals his plan on Monday, the ball shifts
to Congress' court. Congressional and Presidential priorities don't
always line up -- as NSF experienced last year. The President requested
a 3 percent increase for the agency in his FY 05 request, only to see
Congress cut the agencies budget instead by 2 percent in the final
omnibus appropriation.

No details yet on directorate by directorate numbers, but we'll only
have to wait until Monday afternoon. Keep it here for all the details
as they emerge.

--
Peter Harsha
Director of Government Affairs
Computing Research Association
1100 17th St. NW, Suite 507
Washington, DC 20036
p: 202.234.2111 ext 106
c: 202.256.8271
CRA's Computing Research Policy Blog: http://www.cra.org/govaffairs/blog


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