House and Senate Appropriations Committees Pass NIST Funding Bill

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is funded within the FY 1998 Appropriations bill for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed its version of this bill (S. 1022) on July 15; the House Appropriations Committee completed work on its bill (H.R. 2267) on July 22. Below is a comparison of the actions taken by the two committees. (The full Senate passed the Commerce funding bill on July 29 with no changes to the NIST portion; an amendment by Sam Brownback (R-KS) to limit ATP participation to companies with revenues of $2.5 billion or less was rejected by a vote of 42-57.)

*Includes funding for Baldrige Award, which was listed separately in the budget request.

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH AND SERVICES (STRS): This account comprises NIST’s core laboratory programs. The Senate Appropriations Committee recommendation equals the President’s request; the House Appropriations Committee would provide more. The House report recommends $282.9 million and provides the following breakdown of appropriation by activity, “reflecting the priorities included in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Authorization Act of 1997 (H.R. 1274), which passed the House of Representatives by voice vote on April 24, 1997.” Physics - $30.4 million; Materials Sciences and Engineering - $50.9 million; Electronics and Electrical Engineering - $38.1 million; Chemical Science and Technology - $31.8 million; Manufacturing Engineering - $18.9 million; Computer Science and Applied Mathematics - $47.2 million; Building and Fire Research - $13.4 million; Technology Assistance - $19.4 million; Baldrige Award - $4.1 million; Research Support - $28.6 million. The Senate report does not break out its recommendation of $276.9 million into specific activities.

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM (ATP): Neither the House nor the Senate Committee would provide the full requested amount for ATP, although the Senate’s recommendation of $200.0 million is closer. The House Committee would provide $185.1 million, the amount recommended in the House-passed authorization bill, and specifies the following distribution: "(1) $68,000,000 for continuation of prior year awards made using funds provided in fiscal years 1996 and 1997; (2) $74,100,000 for new awards in fiscal year 1998; and (3) $43,000,000 for administration, internal lab support and Small Business Innovation Research requirements.” The House report also states, “The Committee notes that the recently passed House authorization made several important changes to the program, including increasing the matching requirement to 60% for ATP grants for certain grant recipients and ensuring that Federal funds do not supplant private sector capital. In addition, on July 11, 1997, the Secretary of Commerce submitted to the Congress a series of recommendations and changes to the program.... The Committee believes that such changes will enable NIST to further leverage the appropriation provided for this program.”

The Senate report “applauds Commerce Secretary William M. Daley’s effort to review some of the criticisms of the ATP Program and looks forward to receiving the results of his program review.... The Committee directs NIST to use any carryover balances, cancellations, or recoveries to fund existing awards in fiscal year 1998.”

MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP (MEP): Both House and Senate Committee recommendations are lower than the request (House Committee: $113.5 million; Senate Committee: $111.0 million.) Both would provide sufficient funding to enable all existing centers to remain in operation during FY 1998. The Senate report specifically would not allow any of the funds to be used to open new centers or conduct a new competition. The Administration had desired a change to the statutory six-year limit for federal funding of the centers. However, the House report says, “The Committee believes such change is more appropriately addressed through the authorization process. The Committee notes that the House of Representatives recently passed a reauthorization for the MEP program which addresses this matter, and encourages NIST and the Department to work with the authorization committees on the enactment of such legislation.” The Senate report language states, “The Committee requests the Secretary of Commerce to review this program and provide recommendations to the Committee for assisting the MEP centers to become self-supporting after their sixth year of operation.”

CONSTRUCTION OF RESEARCH FACILITIES: While the Senate Committee would provide an appropriation of $16.0 million, approximately equal to the request, the House Committee takes into account the fact that NIST “is in the process of completing a long-term master plan to address its facilities maintenance, rehabilitation and construction requirements to support its mission.” The House Committee’s recommendation of $111.1 million includes “funding above the request to address NIST’s facilities requirements identified in this plan, but has included language in the bill providing for the release of the $94,400,000 increase only upon submission of a spending plan.... The recommendation reflects the Committee’s belief that the technical obsolescence of NIST facilities must be addressed to enable NIST to fulfill its mission, and must therefore be reflected in the overall budgetary priorities of NIST. This program supports all NIST activities by providing the facilities necessary to carry out the NIST mission in compliance with more stringent science and engineering program requirements.”