Status Report

AIP FYI #53: In-Focus: Bush Administration FY 2004 Physics-Related Budget Requests

By SpaceRef Editor

April 17, 2003

Filed under American Institute of Physics, NASA Budget, US

The release of the Bush Administration’s FY 2004 request for
physics-related budgets earlier this year was necessarily confusing.
Operating without the benefit of final FY 2003 appropriations figures or
baselines for most program budgets, the Administration compared its new
request for the fiscal year starting this October 1 with the request that it
had made a year earlier. Within a few weeks of the release of the FY 2004
budget the FY 2003 appropriations legislation was signed, resulting in
fairly solid figures that then had to be adjusted for further reductions.

The following figures represent the calculated percentage change between
the current year budget and the Administration’s FY 2004 request for most of
the budgets tracked by FYI. In some cases it was not possible to make this
calculation because the FY 2003 bill did not specify how the funds are to be
allocated. Note that program content can change between years, as
facilities can be completed or started, activities shifted between offices,
or designated-funding not carried over. Finally, note that the Consumer
Price Index was 3.0% higher last month than in March of last year.

The figures below are ranked from the greatest percentage increase to the
greatest percentage decrease. The dollar figure that follows the percentage
figure is the change between this year and the Administration’s request for
FY 2004.

NSF Major Research Equipment and Facilities: Up 36.2% or $53.8 million

NASA Space Science: Up 14.4% or $505.6 million

NASA Biological and Physical Research: Up 12.7% or $109.8 million

NIST Laboratories: Up 8.5% or $29.9 million

DOE Fusion Energy Sciences: Up 4.2% or $10.4 million

NSF Education and Human Resources: Up 3.9% or $34.8 million

DOD 6.3: Up 3.9% or $195.0 million

DOE Advanced Computing Research: Up 3.6% or $6.1 million

NSF (total): Up 3.2% or $171.2 million

[March 2002 – March 2003 Consumer Price Index Increase: Up 3.0%]

DOE Nuclear Physics: Up 2.6% or $9.8 million

NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences: Up 2.6% or $26.9 million

DOE High Energy Physics: Up 2.5% or $18.1 million

DOE Office of Science: Up 1.5% or $49.7 million

NIH: NIBIB: Up 1.4% or $3.8 million

NSF Research and Related Activities: Up 1.2% or $49.9 million

NSF Engineering: Up 1.1% or $6.0 million

NSF Geosciences: Up 0.5% or $3.2 million

NASA Human Space Flight: Down 0.6% or $33.8 million

DOE Basic Energy Sciences: Down 0.8% or $8.1 million

DOE Biological and Environmental Research: Down 0.8% or $4.1 million

USGS: Down 2.6% or $23.8 million

Dept. of Education Improving Teacher Quality: Down 2.7% or $80.0 million

DOD 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 (total): Down 4.9% or $531.0 million

DOD 6.1: Down 7.6% or $107.0 million

NASA Earth Science: Down 9.1% or $155.8 million

DOD 6.2: Down 14.3% or $619.0 million

NSF Polar Programs: Down 18.0% or $57.3 million

NIST (total): Down 29.8% or $210.7 million

NIST Advanced Technology Program: Down 84.8% or $151.0 million

Dept. of Education Math and Science Partnerships: Down 87.5% or $87.9 million

NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership: Down 88.1% or $93.3 million