Overview of Fiscal Year 2006 Appropriations 
As in years past, AGI is tracking budget appropriations for the agencies and programs of most interest to the geoscience community. We offer coverage on the President's initial budget request, congressional hearings on budget decisions, and final actions by Congress as next year's funding decisions are made. Choose an agency on the bar below to view detailed
program and account information as well as AGI's analysis as the bills
move through Congress. Or you can scroll down for an overview
table breaking down the whole federal budget. For the FY 2006
budget process, Congress reorganized jurisdiction in both the House
and Senate appropriations subcommittees. Read below
for an in-depth look at the budget process and how the recent subcommittee
reorganization affects earth science funding. As in years past, AGI has provided testimony to several subcommittees on programs of importance to the geoscience community. You can also keep up-to-date with the Library of Congress Table on Current Status of FY 2006 Appropriations Bills and the AAAS Analysis of R&D in the FY 2006 Budget. As in years past, the AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Project website has information on trends in federal research and development funding, including information on the president's request, congressional budget resolution, 302(b) allocations, and each science-related appropriations bill.
The appropriations process begins when the President submits to Congress his budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. The President's proposal is coordinated by the Office of Management and Budget under the authority of the White House. Once the president has proposed his budget with the administration's priorities, it is up to Congress to prepare a budget for the nation. Congress begins the budget process by preparing a budget resolution and holding hearings on the rationale behind the administration's proposal. While the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees and authorization committees are holding oversight hearings, the Budget committees use March and April to formulate a budget resolution. Before April 15th, Congress must agree to a budget resolution that determines discretionary spending in the upcoming fiscal year. Meanwhile, appropriations subcommittees in the House and the Senate continue to hold hearings to gather information to determine an appropriate funding level for federal programs. After the appropriations bills are approved in committee and then by the full House or Senate, a conference committee is formed to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions. After the revised bill has been approved by the House and the Senate, it is submitted to the President for his signature. In previous years, both the House and the Senate had 13 separate appropriations subcommittees which were responsible for drafting the individual appropriations bills. The corresponding subcommittees in the House and the Senate were responsible for the same agencies. In a 2005 reorganization and consolidation of the appropriations subcommittees, the House and the Senate created subcommittees which did not perfectly correspond to the subcommittees in the other chamber of Congress. This may cause difficulties when the House and the Senate attempt to agree on identical bills in conference. The details of this reorganization follow. House ReorganizationIn mid-February of 2005 the House Appropriations Committee ratified a reorganization of the appropriations subcommittees. In a statement released on February 9th Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) said, "This structure will allow us to spend less time on the floor and in committee and more time doing oversight over the expenditure of taxpayer funds. These changes will make it a little easier to get our work done on time and under budget. The greatest impact of this proposal falls on the two subcommittees I formerly chaired, VA-HUD and Defense. My decade of experience with the programs funded by these two subcommittees provided the insight to make some common-sense changes that will improve our stewardship of discretionary spending. I want to commend Chairman Cochran on the respectful and thoughtful manner in which he has worked with me on this proposal." Not everyone hailed this move as a positive one. The Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee David Obey (D-WI) said in a statement, "The reorganization plan for the Appropriations Committee that the House Majority has proposed is not aimed at improving efficiency. It is simply payback. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is retaliating for cuts that the Republican-controlled VA-HUD appropriations subcommittee made to the NASA budget request." Nevertheless, there are now 10 appropriations subcommittees instead of 13, and several that are important to the geosciences have new responsibilities. The 10 subcommittees are:
See a summary of the House Reorganization Proposal online. View a list
of chairmanships and majority committee members online. Senate ReorganizationEnding weeks of speculation, Senator Cochran (R-MS) announced on March 2, 2005 that the Senate Appropriations Committee would also reorganize its subcommittee structure. Once the proposal was ratified by the full Senate Appropriations Committee, there are now 12 subcommittees instead of 13. The programs and accounts funded previously through the VA-HUD and Independent Agencies Subcommittee (including NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency) are being divided among other subcommittees. The 12 subcommittees:
In a statement Senator Cochran said, "The Senate Appropriations Committee is moving forward with a consensus on the structure of the Committee. The changes made will allow for a more orderly approach to the appropriations process." View a press
release regarding the new committees and jurisdictional changes
from the Senate Appropriations Committee website. The Budget ProcessBelow is a diagram of the congressional budget process that first appeared in Following the Budget Process that was published in the March 1996 issue of Geotimes. It is adapted from a diagram developed by the House Budget Committee. Click on the image to open a PDF version.
Sources: American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute of Physics, E&ENews Publications, House Committee on Appropriations, Library of Congress, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Washington Post, and the White House Office of Management and Budget. Please send any comments or requests for information to the AGI Government Affairs Program at govt@agiweb.org. Contributed by Emily Lehr Wallace, AGI Government Affairs Program,
Katie Ackerly, AGI Government Affairs Program, and John Vermylen,
2005 AGI/AIPG Summer Intern. Last Update February 25, 2005. |
