AAS Public Policy Blog

In the span of a minute, the Senate Commerce, Justice, and Science committee passed the Senate version of the NASA Authorization Bill of 2008. You can read the committee press release here.

When the text of the bill is available online, I’ll update this post.

The compromise supplemental funding bill does indeed include money for science. Specifically:

• NASA - The amended bill includes $62,500,000 for Science, Aeronautics and Exploration.
• NSF - Research and Related Activities - The amended bill includes $22,500,000 for Research and Related Activities, of which $5,000,000 shall be available solely for activities authorized by section 7002(b)(2)(A)(iv) of Public Law 110-69. This is for the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCOR.
• NSF Education And Human Resources - The amended bill includes $40,000,000 for Education and Related Activities of which $20,000,000 is for section 10 of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n–1) and $20,000,000, is for activities authorized by section 10A of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 1862n–1a). This is the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program
• DOE - Science - The amended bill includes an additional $62,500,000 for Science. The Department of Energy is instructed to utilize this funding to eliminate all furloughs and reductions in force which are a direct result of budgetary constraints. Workforce reductions which are a result of completed work or realignment of mission should proceed as planned. This funding is intended to maintain technical expertise and capability at the Office of Science, and may be used for National Laboratory Research and Development including research related to new neutrino initiatives. Funding for research efforts shall not be allocated until the Office of Science has fully funded all personnel requirements.

The bill should be voted on in the House today or Friday, and then will be considered in the Senate.

Updated - You can see the text of the amendments yourself at the Government Printing Office (PDF) view of the Congressional Record.

Also, my favorite part of the Congressional record daily digest for June 20 is this:

Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008: The House agreed to the Senate amendments to the House amendments to the Senate amendment with an amendment, made in order by the rule and printed in H. Rept. 110-720…

That is a lot of amending.

The NASA Authorization Bill,HR 6063, passed the House yesterday by a vote of 409-15. The bill authorizes (but does not appropriate) higher funding for NASA, and spells out the agencies mission as the agency prepares for a new administration in 2009.

Noteworthy in the bill:

• Budget Authorization 12.8% higher than the President’s request
• Support for a strong suborbital program including sounding rockets and balloons
• Addresses the need to reform ITAR, which inhibits international scientific collaboration
• Recognizes the importance of Decadal surveys and other community-based decision making processes.

The Senate has yet to introduce a NASA authorization bill.

This was in today’s monthly AAS electronic newsletter, but it’s worth posting here too. The Decadal Survey process is underway, and nominations of candidates for the chair are being solicited from the community. You can read the full announcement at the Board of Physics and Astronomy page, and submit nominations through that page, or to astro2010@nas.edu.

The New York Times has an article and quotes from a joint interview on the three Ph.D. physicists in the US House of Representatives. Those would be Rush Holt, (D-NJ), Vern Ehlers (R-MI), and the the newest addition, Bill Foster (D-IL).

Now we just need an astronomer in there.

The House Science Committee passed HR 6063, the NASA Reauthorization Act, unanimously today.

From the committee’s press release:

H.R. 6063, introduced by Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Mark Udall (D-CO), authorizes appropriations for NASA’s activities – science, aeronautics, exploration, education, space operations, inspector general, cross-agency support programs – for Fiscal Year 2009. FY 2009 funding for NASA is $20.21 billion. This bipartisan legislation was originally cosponsored by the Science and Technology Committee’s Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), Ranking Member Ralph Hall (R-TX), and Subcommittee Ranking Member Tom Feeney (R-FL).

A NASA Reauthorization bill has yet to be introduced in the Senate.

If you think it’s been a while since I’ve posted, and wonder why that is - the answer is simple. Last week was what Congress calls a “district work week” - i.e. they were in their home states or districts.

Additionally, the AAS of course has our meeting in St. Louis which is ongoing, though I’m back in DC today. So, needless to say things are a bit quiet here at AAS HQ.

A couple of items - the NASA senior review of operating missions is available online (PDF link)

The Washington Post reports that NASA’s Inspector General has found that science on climate change was manipulated by political appointees.

From the fall of 2004 through 2006, the report said, NASA’s public affairs office “managed the topic of climate change in a manner that reduced, marginalized, or mischaracterized climate change science made available to the general public.” It noted elsewhere that “news releases in the areas of climate change suffered from inaccuracy, factual insufficiency, and scientific dilution.”

The full report can be read here (PDF file)

The AAS council issued a statement in 2004 concurring with the AGU on the need for peer-reviewed science to inform our decisions on climate change. It reads in part:

… The American Astronomical Society (AAS) joins the AGU in calling for peer-reviewed climate research to inform climate-related policy decisions, and, as well, to provide a basis for mitigating the harmful effects of global change and to help communities adapt and become resilient to extreme climatic events. In endorsing the “Human Impacts on Climate” statement, the AAS recognizes the collective expertise of the AGU in scientific subfields central to assessing and understanding global change, and acknowledges the strength of agreement among our AGU colleagues that the global climate is changing and human activities are contributing to that change.

Large amounts of domestic spending, including new veterans’ benefits and money for science, passed the Senate today by a large margin of 75-22. You can read the text of the amendment as it relates to science funding here.

Democrats in the Senate planned to first try to pass a large package of domestic spending, and then if that failed, a smaller amendment geared only toward expanded education benefits for veterans. However, with the larger amendment passing, the second, more focused one was not considered.

The bill now goes back to the House, which failed to pass war funding supplemental but did pass some domestic spending.. Despite numerous searches of roll call votes and amendments, I can’t seem to find the text of the domestic spending amendment the House passed (and is mentioned in the Washington Post article.)

We’ll see how the House responds and if the House can muster a veto-proof margin for any supplemental it passes in finality. A coalition of Republicans against domestic spending, and Democrats against funding the war could mean that the House could not override a supplemental veto.

The AAAS takes a look at the science funding in the domestic spending in the Senate’s version of the supplemental funding bill.

There’s also an AP story on the Senate’s version.

In about 10 minutes, markup of the NASA Reauthorization bill occurred in the House Space & Aeronautics subcommittee today. No amendments were considered. The bill moves on to the full House Science Committee.

Markup refers to the process by which a bill is amended, altered, etc. The bill text got through markup without any changes, from my quick scanning of the archived webcast.

No NASA reauthorization bill has yet been introduced in the Senate.