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In the January 31, 1997 Issue:

"Corporate Welfare" Salvos Largely Spare S&T


Calls for an end to "corporate welfare" increased this week with an unusual coalition unveiling a list of targeted programs and nine senators calling for a commission to review federal subsidies to companies.

A coalition of liberal and conservative organizations has agreed to a list of twelve federal programs, including three technology-related programs, that should be terminated or modified because they are "corporate welfare."

Members of the Stop Corporate Welfare Coalition include the National Taxpayers Union, Friends of the Earth, and Ralph Nader's Public Citizen. The Coalition has worked with Rep. John Kasich (R-OH), chairman of the House Budget Committee, to identify target programs.

Among the programs targeted for elimination are three conducted through the Department of Energy: research on clean coal technology; fossil energy research; and, a pyroprocessing program that reprocesses spent nuclear fuel.

"The groups on the right would not allow tax breaks to be eliminated, and environmental groups allowed only programs that harm the environment to be included on the list," according to a statement by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

At the same time, a Senate bill (S.207) has been introduced that would create a commission to perform a "comprehensive review of ...unfair corporate subsidies" and make recommendations on "the reform or elimination of such subsidies."

The Corporate Subsidy Reform Commission Act of 1997, sponsored by Sens. McCain (R-AZ), Thompson (R-TN), Kerry (D-MA), Feingold (D-WI), Kennedy (D-MA), Coats (R-IN), Glenn (D-OH), Lieberman (D-CT), and Brownback (R-KS), would establish a process to identify, review, reform, and eliminate "unnecessary and inequitable subsidies, including tax advantages" provided to businesses.

The bill specifically says that payments or tax advantages that are "awarded for the purposes of research and development in the broad public interest on the basis of a peer-reviewed... procedure" and "research and development that the private sector cannot reasonably be expected to undertake without federal support..." are not to be considered inequitable federal subsidies.

A similar bill was approved last session by the Governmental Affairs Committee, but not considered by the full Senate.


$18 Million Available For New Information Superhighway Grants


The Department of Commerce is seeking proposals for its Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP). TIIAP provides matching grants for projects that extend the benefits of advanced telecommunications and information technology to rural and underserved urban communities.

The department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has indicated there is approximately $18 million available for the 1997 round of TIIAP grants. Based on the past grant rounds, the average size of each grant award will be $300,000 although proposals may request up to $750,000 in federal support.

This year's priorities are projects that identify specific problems or needs in a community, use information infrastructure services and technologies to offer concrete solutions, and target measurable outcomes. TIIAP will support projects in five application areas: Community-Wide Networking; Education, Culture, and Lifelong Learning; Health; Public and Community Services; and Public Safety.

NTIA is holding a series of regional workshops to discuss the program. Workshops are scheduled for:

The deadline for submitting applications is March 27. Eligible non-profit organizations include schools, libraries, community organizations, hospitals, and state, tribal and local governments.

Additional information is available from NTIA by phone at 202/482-2048, on the Web at http://www.ntia.doc.gov or by contacting SSTI at 614/421-SSTI (7784).


Federal S&T Spending Levels Off After Declining


The final appropriation for federal science and technology (FS&T) for FY 1997 is $43.4 billion, a slight increase (0.7 percent) over the FY 1996 appropriation, according to a new report by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

The budget is 5.0 percent less than it was in FY 1994, and would be 9.7 percent less than in FY 1994 if the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was not included. Overall, only two of ten major science and technology agencies and departments, the National Science Foundation and HHS, have more FS&T funding in FY 1997 than they had in FY 1994.

NAS considers that "part of the federal R&D budget that is devoted each year to expanding fundamental knowledge and creating new technologies" as the FS&T budget. It does not include, for example, the part of federal R&D devoted to the production engineering, testing and evaluation, and upgrading of large weapons and related systems.

FS&T appropriations by agency for FY 1997 is:

HHS $12,998,000,000
Defense 7,816,000,000
Energy 5,426,000,000
NSF 2,424,000,000
Agriculture 1,543,000,000
Others 1,114,000,000
Commerce 1,004,000,000
Transportation 626,000,000
EPA 593,000,000
Interior 573,000,000
TOTAL $43,380,000,000

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