On Monday, the Administration announced that federal agencies had met the goal set by President Obama of finding at least $100 million in administrative savings from their agency budgets. The 77 cost-savings measures identified by agencies would yield $102 million in savings this fiscal year (FY09) and about $140 million in savings in fiscal 2010. Most of the proposals pertain to asset management (e.g., facilities, equipment, and vehicles), energy and other resource usage, meetings and travel, procurement and contracting, and productivity or process improvements. The largest is a Pentagon plan to save $52 million in 2010 by using commercial jet fuel, but the vast majority would provide just modest savings.
Category: Budget
Update from Washington, DC
Congress started off this week with the goal of advancing health care reform financing options in preparation for an overall vote on reform measures before their August recess. By the end of the week, however, it became clear to House and Senate leaders – as well as the President – that they would not meet that deadline. Instead they plan to continue negotiations through August and into September when they will try again to garner the votes they need to pass a comprehensive health care reform measure.
This slight “slow down” has allowed everyone to catch their breath and focus on completing the remaining FY10 spending bills.
The House is currently debating the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill on the floor and will likely vote on that final measure later today. This follows the passage of the Transportation-HUD bill yesterday. This leaves the FY10 Defense bill as the final spending measure in front of the House, which they will take action on next week.
The Senate, meanwhile, continues to trail the House in their progress on spending measures. On Monday they will take up the FY10 Energy & Water bill followed by action on their Agriculture and Military Construction-VA bills. In addition to the Senate floor action on Energy-Water, the Senate Appropriations Committee next week plans to mark up another two of its bills: Transportation-HUD and Labor-HHS-Education. That will leave just Defense, which may not occur until after the August recess.
The House and Senate will also continue negotiations over climate legislation. The urgency on this issue is not as intense as it has been on health care reform and several members on both sides of the aisle seem to agree that this legislation will move after health care – sometime in the fall.
While the Office of Federal Relations continues to monitor progress on all of these fronts, we are also beginning to look forward to August when many of our Delegation Members and their staff will return to the state. They will likely focus their activities on meetings and other events focused on the current health care debate as well as continuing to seek feedback from constituencies on how best to craft climate change legislation.
At the same time, we are beginning to talk with Congressional staff about their availability to be on campus for various meetings, briefings, and tours. Please let us know if you are interested in inviting Members or their staff to campus for a particular event or if you would like to help organize a tour/briefing for your program area. We’re here and happy to help coordinate schedules so that we can maximize the time that Congressional staff will give us for these activities.
Christy Gullion, Director
OMB to Conduct Recovery Act Reporting Webinars
OMB has scheduled webinars on Recovery Act reporting requirements. Individuals interested in participating must go to the website and register for each session. The webinars will be available for later viewing on the Recovery.gov website.
**OMB Announcement**
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Recovery, Accountability and Transparency Board announce that webinars will be held the week of July 20, 2009 to provide information on implementing the guidance set forth in OMB Memorandum M-09-21, Implementing Guidance for the Reports on Use of Funds Pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that was released on June 22, 2009.
Each webinar will focus on a major section of the Guidance as well as on the technology solution. The intended audience for these webinars includes Federal agency personnel, prime recipients and sub-recipients.
Proposed FY10 Funding for Oceans Research
Below, please find an overview of funding provided for ocean research — thus far — in the FY10 appropriations process. The FY10 appropriations process will continue to play out over the course of the summer and early fall, with final bills expected by the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, 2009.
| NSF Appropriations Account | FY09 Final | FY10 Request | FY10 House | FY10 Senate |
| Total NSF | 6490.4 | 7045.0 | 6936.5 | 6916.8 |
| Research and Related Activities | 5183.1 | 5733.2 | 5642.1 | 5618.0 |
| Polar Programs | 470.7 | 516.0 | ||
| Geosciences Directorate | 807.1 | 909.0 | ||
| Ocean Sciences | 330.4 | 359.1 | ||
| Atmospheric Sciences | 244.6 | 269.2 | ||
| Earth Sciences | 171.0 | 186.9 | ||
| Major Research Equipment | 152.0 | 117.3 | 114.3 | 122.3 |
| AdvLIGO | 51.4 | 46.3 | 46.3 | |
| Atacama Large Millimeter Array | 82.3 | 42.8 | 42.8 | |
| IceCube Neutrino Obs. | 11.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
| Advanced Solar Telescope | 10.0 | |||
| Neon | ||||
| OOI | 14.3 | 14.3 | ||
| ARRV | ||||
| Education and Human Resources | 845.3 | 858.0 | 862.9 | 0.0 |
| NASA Appropriations Account | FY09 Final | FY10 Request | FY10 House | FY10 Senate |
| Total NASA | 17782.4 | 18686.0 | 18203.3 | 18686.0 |
| Science | 4503.0 | 4477.2 | 4496.1 | 4517.0 |
| Earth Science | 1379.6 | 1405.0 | 1443.0 | 1405.0 |
| Heliophysics | 591.6 | 605.0 | 605.0 | 646.6 |
| Planetary Science | 1325.6 | 1346.2 | 1348.3 | 1354.8 |
| Astrophysics | 1206.2 | 1120.9 | 1170.9 | 1169.8 |
| Earth System Missions | 898.9 | 715.5 | 730.5 | 720.5 |
| NPOESS Prepatory Mission | 57.1 | 112.8 | 112.8 | 112.8 |
| Decadal Survey | 82.3 | |||
| Ocean Surface Topography | 8.0 | |||
| Exploration Systems | 3905.5 | 3963.1 | 3293.2 | 3940.4 |
| Aeronautics Research | 650.0 | 507.0 | 501.0 | 507.0 |
| Education Programs | 169.2 | 126.1 | 175.0 | 140.1 |
| NOAA Program or Account | FY09 Final | FY10 Request | FY10 House | FY10 Senate |
| Total NOAA | 4373.9 | 4483.8 | 4602.9 | 4772.8 |
| Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research | 396.7 | 394.2 | 426.7 | 419.8 |
| Ocean & Coastal Research | 122.8 | 107.4 | 114.4 | 119.8 |
| Sea Grant College Program | 55 | 55.1 | 59.1 | 63.1 |
| National Undersea Research Program | 8.9 | 0 | 9 | 8.9 |
| Ocean Exploration | 18.6 | 27.8 | 21.8 | 22.8 |
| Coastal, Ocean & Great Lakes Labs & Inst. | 24.2 | 21.8 | 21.8 | 25.0 |
| Total Climate Research | 196.5 | 209.8 | 229 | 209.8 |
| Climate & Atmos. Labs and Insts. | 49.3 | 54.5 | 55.1 | 52.7 |
| Climate Data and Information | 8.3 | 12.1 | 12.1 | 12.1 |
| Competitive Research Program | 132 | 144.2 | 149.2 | 144.2 |
| Climate Operations | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 913.0 |
| Regional Climate Assessments | 12 | |||
| Weather Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes | 53.3 | 52.7 | 54.9 | 54.5 |
| Info Tech, R&D, Science Education | 14 | 13.1 | 13.1 | 13.2 |
| National Ocean Service (ORF) | 497 | 462.7 | 482 | 511.6 |
| Navigation Services | 166.4 | 155.1 | 152.3 | 163.4 |
| Ocean Resources Conserv. & Assess. | 164 | 159.7 | 164.9 | 161.4 |
| National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science | 53.3 | 52 | 49.2 | 53.8 |
| Competitive External Research (HABS) | 15.8 | 15.8 | 15.8 | 16.0 |
| Ocean Assessment Program | 94.5 | 83.4 | 89.6 | 107.6 |
| Ocean Health Initiative | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4.0 |
| Integrated Ocean Observing System – Grants | 20 | 14.6 | 20 | 27.5 |
| IOOS Program Office | 6.5 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 6.6 |
| Ocean Research Priorities Plan Implementation | 0 | 6 | 6.0 | |
| Ocean & Coastal Management | 155.1 | 147.9 | 155.4 | 152.7 |
| Coastal Zone Management Grants | 66.1 | 67.2 | 67.5 | 66.5 |
| Estuarine Research Reserve System | 22.3 | 22.3 | 23.5 | 22.8 |
| National Marine Sanctuary Program | 47.4 | 45 | 49.9 | 49.9 |
| National Marine Fisheries Service (ORF) | 754 | 890.6 | 915.9 | 872.4 |
| National Weather Service (ORF) | 848 | 867.2 | 857.2 | 889.1 |
| National Environmental Satellite, Data & Information Service (ORF) | 187.4 | 171.7 | 199.5 | 176.1 |
| NESDIS PAC | 990.6 | 1256.9 | 1268.9 | 1232.4 |
| NESDIS TOTAL (ORF+PAC) | 1178 | 1428.6 | 1468.4 | 1408.5 |
| Program Support total (ORF) | 451 | 420 | 436 | 432.2 |
| Education Initiative/Program | 46.1 | 20.7 | 35.3 | 35.0 |
| Procurement Acquisition & Construction | 1245.7 | 1393.3 | 1441.2 | 1397.7 |
House FY10 Energy & Water Spending Bill Advances
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water has advanced a spending bill for fiscal year 2010. The legislation funds the Department of Energy Office of Science at the President’s Budget Request of $4.94 billion. The legislation also adds $20 million for fusion energy sciences. At this point, information on the proposed Innovation Hubs and RE-ENERGYSE is unavailable. Two University of Washington projects were included in the bill:
- $1 million for the UW led Washington State Biofuels Industry Development project; and
- $880,000 for the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, of which the UW is a partner.
Funding identified in the subcommittee bill does not guarantee project support, but is a critical step in the appropriations process.