TBED-related Federal Budget News

More than 45 days into the new fiscal year, several budget bills have finally moved out of Congress. Representatives from nearly all of the programs highlighted below will be participating in SSTI's fifth annual conference, discussing their priorities, plans and funding cycles for FY 2002. An entire track of breakout sessions has been dedicated toward federal funding opportunities for tech-based economic development programs and their clients. 



FAST, ROP Take Hits in SBA FY 2002 Budget 

The Commerce-Justice-State FY 2002 appropriation bill, in which SBA's budget is included, received Congressional approval this week and moves to the President's desk for signing. Overall, the SBA took a cut of $113 million. The two federal programs specifically tailored to support state SBIR/STTR outreach and assistance efforts have been cut as well: 

• The Federal and State Technology Partnership (FAST) made its first round of 30 awards, totaling $3.45 million, six weeks ago. This program was created by Congress in very large part because of the need and interest demonstrated by the Science & Technology Council of the States. The FY 2002 appropriation has been reduced to $3 million. 
• The Rural Outreach Program (ROP), with an FY 2001 budget of $1.5 million, is on its third funding cycle. The FY 2002 appropriation has been cut sharply to only $0.5 million. 

During the Clinton Administration, SBA's approach for handling budget reductions in multi-year award programs was to reduce all awards by the same percentage (in this case, 15 percent for FAST; 67 percent for ROP) or to make varied levels of grants based on first-year results. Since SBA still wanted to fund each project, the latter approach resulted in some ROP awards of only $19,000. How SBA will handle the current cut is uncertain, but more information may be available during SBA's session at SSTI's annual conference on December 3-4. 



Separately, the budget for the Small Business Development Centers program was cut to $88 million, the Women's Business Centers received $12 million, and Microloan Technical Assistance $17.5 million. The SBDC appropriation contained two earmarks totaling $3 million for the defense transition program and the environmental compliance project. 



EDA FY 2002 Appropriation Cut $77 Million 

The FY 2002 appropriation for the Economic Development Administration will be $335 million, consistent with the President's request and $77 million lower than FY 2001. EDA supports efforts to retain and stimulate industrial and commercial growth in economically-distressed areas of the U.S. EDA is one of the only federal programs to regularly support technology incubators and research and technology development parks. EDA also provides the funding that allows free circulation of SSTI's Weekly Digest. 



The majority of the cuts requested were to be absorbed by the grants to support Public Works and Defense Economic Conversion. 



NIST Programs Intact After FY02 Budget Surfaces 

The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) will have $60.7 million available for new awards in FY 2002 as a result of the conference version of the Commerce-Justice-State FY 2002 appropriation bill. The balance of the program's $184.5 million appropriation will go to existing projects and administration. 



Overall, the National Institute of Standards and Technology received $674 million, $77 million more than FY 2001 and $186 million above the Administration's request. Restoration of the ATP budget accounts for a significant portion of the difference. 



The Manufacturing Extension Partnership received more than $106.5 million to remain available until expended. The level reflects a slight increase over FY 2001 levels. The program supports a nationwide network of more than 400 nonprofit centers whose sole purpose is to assist small and medium-sized manufacturers. 



The NIST appropriation did not escape Congressional earmarks. From the construction of research facilities line item, the following projects will be funded: $8 million to fund a cooperative agreement with the Medical University of South Carolina; $6 million for the Thayer School of Engineering for the nanocrystalline materials and biomass research initiative; $3 million for the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection at the Institute for Security Technology Studies; $3.35 million for the Institute for Politics; $650,000 to the Mount Washington Technology Village; $6.5 million for a critical infrastructure project at the George Mason University School of Law; $3.7 million the Conservation Institute of the Bronx Zoo; $2 million for the Adolescent Mental Health Residential Treatment program at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center; $1.3 million for the Puerto Rican Historical, Cultural and Activities Center; $5 million for the National Infrastructure Institute; and $2 million for the University of South Carolina School of Public Health. 



More information is available in the conference report for the Commerce-Justice-State appropriation: ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/cp107/hr278.txt 

NSF Budget Increases 8.4 Percent in 2002 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) budget for FY 2002 will reflect an 8.4 percent increase over the FY 2001 funding levels, significantly above the 1.3 percent increase requested by the Bush Administration. Research and related activities total nearly $3.6 billion, an increase of 7.4 percent. Within that category, engineering research will see an 8.5 percent increase for an FY 2002 level of $467.5 million, and Mathematical and Physical Sciences will climb to $922.2 million. 



Of the $508 million appropriated for Biological Sciences, $75 million is to go toward a comprehensive research initiative on plant genomes for economically significant crops. 



The bill includes $26.61 million for the Science and Technology Centers and $4 million for the Rand Corporation's Science & Technology Policy Institute. The institute supports the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy. 



The conference agreement increases the budget request level for all directorates and provides specific increases of $25 million for information technology research, $25 million for nanotechnology, and $12.5 million for increased energy and fuel costs in the polar and ocean sciences as well as national facilities in physics and materials. The conference agreement also directs NSF to undertake a study to determine its appropriate role in support of regional innovation activities. 



For more information, see: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp107:FLD010:@1(hr272): 

DLT To Grow While USDA Budget Shrinks 

The downward trend on agriculture spending continues with the approval of the compromise version of the FY 2002 appropriations for agriculture, rural development, food and drug administration and related agencies. Congress approved total new obligations for USDA of $75.79 million, down from last year's $76.66 million. The Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program, however, bucked the trend with a significant increase. 



The conference agreement provides more than $49 million for the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program, nearly twice the $25 million appropriated in FY 2001. The conference report includes language setting aside $22.5 million to finance broadband transmission and local dial-up service in rural areas, of which at least $12.5 million is to be made available for grants to carry out this program. 



The conference agreement also provides for an estimated loan program level of $300 million for distance learning and telemedicine loans and $80 million for broadband telecommunication loans.