SSTI Digest

After seven years of serving as the first president of the Connecticut Technology Council, Laura Kent is resigning her position at the end of June. The Council now boasts over 400 members.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge has promoted Tim McNulty to the new position of Deputy Chief of Staff for Technology Initiatives.

The Bush Administration's first budget request offers a mixed bag for state, local, and non-profit practitioners and policymakers in tech-based economic development. In research categories, the budget reflects the Administration's research emphasis in defense, biotechnology, and life sciences. The budget also reorganizes the nation's energy research priorities. Most other research categories were held at FY 2001 funding levels or received modest increases or cuts. Most notable exceptions are the Department of Commerce's Advanced Technology Program (ATP) which is slated for a two-year hiatus from funding new projects while the program is reviewed, and the industrial research programs in the Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies. Some discussion of these shifts are presented below. For economic development programs, the Administration's first budget presents a philosophical change with significant implications. Nearly every program that provides direct support to the private sector, either as loans or grants, experiences potential elimination or large reductions.…

Research funding levels, with the exception of $150 million in Congressional earmarks, remain relatively flat between FY 2001 appropriations and the President's FY 2002 request. Economic development and Digital Divide programs, on the other hand, take several hits. Selected agency program highlights include: Distance Learning & Telemedicine (DLT) Loans and Grants – continuation funding levels from FY 2001 of $25 million in grants and $300 million in loans to support access to advanced telecommunications services for improved education and health care in rural areas. (See Broadband below though for earmark) Broadband Telecom Services in Rural America – $100 million in direct loans and $2 million in loan/grant combinations taken from the DLT pool (FY 2001 $100 million, pilot program) to support broadband transmission and local dial-up Internet services in rural areas. Fund for Rural America – Authorization to use the $30 million balance of funds provided in FY 2000 is requested. Funds would be split evenly between rural development activities and…

The total agency budget request is $4.8 billion, $300 million less than the FY 2001 appropriation level. The majority of the reduction is absorbed by elimination of new project funding for the Advanced Technology Program, a 67 percent cut or $30 million for the Technology Opportunities Program, and a $77 million cut in Economic Development Administration programs. Selected Commerce program highlights include: Technology Administration, including the National Institute for Standards & Technology (NIST) – $495.7 million ($109.4 million less than the FY 2001 appropriation level) Under Secretary for Technology/Office of Technology Policy, including the Office of Space Commercialization – $8.2 million (increase of $176,000 over FY 2001 after rescissions) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Technology (EPSCoT) – no funding requested. Advanced Technology Program (ATP) – $13 million in additional funding and all $145.4 million of FY 2001 funds would support outstanding commitments (no new awards would be made in FY 2001 or FY 2002…

The Administration budget request calls for a $2.6 billion increase for missile defense alternatives and new technology development. The President plans to increase military research by $20 billion over the next five years. Research, Development, Testing & Evaluation (6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 spending categories) would grow by only two percent in FY 2002, however. The American Institute of Physics reports the final Defense budget request will be released on May 15.

The agency's total FY 2002 budget request of $19.2 billion reflects a drop of 2.3 percent. The DOE science budget would increase to $3.16 billion, representing an increase of one-tenth of one percent. Shifts within the R&D budget reflect the President's priorities in fossil fuel research: $150 million in new matching federal funds will support the Clean Coal Power Initiative. Funding for Biological and Environmental Research, on the other hand, falls by more than eight percent. Energy Conservation research drops 46.3 percent over FY 2001 and funding for Renewable Energy Resources would drop by 36.4 percent, although the Administration has committed to introduce a budget amendment adding $39 million for hydrogen related research and restoring 9 percent of the FY 2001 energy conservation research funding level. An additional $1.2 billion in FY 2004 funding for alternative energy development is promised contingent on royalties from oil and gas drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge. Compared to the FY 2001 appropriation, the Administration has requested 41 percent less funding for…

The Administration's FY 2002 budget request of $7.3 billion is $56 million, or 0.08 percent, higher than the FY 2001 appropriation. Funding for EPA science programs would be cut by $27 million or nine percent. Highlights of specific programs within the science budget include: Human Health Research -- $50.81 million (decrease of 0.3 percent from FY 2001) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program -- $32.99 million (increase of 12 percent over FY 2001) Pollution Prevention Tools and Technologies -- $21.89 million (cut of 11 percent from FY 2001) Regional Science and Technology -- $3.59 million (47.5 percent cut from FY 2001 levels) Environmental Technology Verification -- $3.62 million (42.5 percent cut from FY 2001)

The Administration’s budget request includes a 13.8 percent increase of $2.8 billion in biomedical research within the National Institutes of Health. Not to be outdone, the Senate has already passed a budget resolution calling for an additional $700 million in NIH funding for FY 2002.

Total funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is reduced by $9.7 million or 0.3 percent over FY 2001 levels. A new $80 million Community Technology Centers initiative within the CDBG program budget will provide competitive grants to support the development and expansion of technology centers in high poverty urban areas. The budget request says the new centers will enhance the Dept. of Education's Community Technology Centers program and will build off of the 680+ Neighborhood Networks, a community-based HUD program that encourages the development of resource and computer learning centers in privately owned HUD-assisted and/or -insured housing. Budget language has been deleted that required $44 million of CDBG funding go toward initiatives to stimulate investment and encourage economic diversification and community revitalization in distressed neighborhoods. The Administration's FY 2002 budget request includes $150 million for Round II Urban Empowerment Zones.

The Administration's $14.5 billion request for NASA reflects an increase of just under two percent over the FY 2001 appropriations. While funding for the Science, Aeronautics and Technology unit of the budget would grow from $7.067 billion in FY 2001 to $7.192 billion in FY 2002, the distribution of funding across areas within the unit shifts: Space Science -- $2.786 billion (6.16 percent increase over FY 2001) Biological & Physical Research -- $360.9 million (4.73 percent decrease from FY 2001) Earth Science -- $1.515 billion (11.72 percent decrease from FY 2001) Aerospace Technology -- $2.3776 billion (7.28 percent increase over FY 2001) Academic Programs -- $153.7 million (15.83 percent increase over FY 2001) Commercial Technology Programs within the Science, Aeronautics and Technology includes Commercial Programs, Technology Transfer Agents, and the Small Business Innovation Research program. Requested funding for the unit in FY 2002 total $146.9 million, a decrease of $15.5 million over FY 2001.

NSF would receive $4.47 billion dollars in FY2002, up $56.1 million (or 1.3 percent) from FY2001 under the President’s budget request. S&T highlights are: Math and Science Partnerships Initiative - $200 million new initiative, part of the President’s No Child Left Behind plan to strengthen and reform K-12 education. Partnerships between state and local school districts and institutions of higher education will provide students with enhanced opportunities to perform to high standards in math and science. Nanoscale Science and Engineering - $174 million (up 16 percent from last year) to explore phenomena at molecular and atomic scales and new techniques to facilitate a broad range of applications. Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) - $100 million same as FY 01 level. Science and Technology Centers - $26 million to initiate a new group of centers in topics across the range of disciplines supported by NSF. Centers and Networks of Excellence - $29.39 million to support four new research and education centers, a multidisciplinary…