NIST FY 2000 Budget Request

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a part of the Department of Commerce. In presenting the FY 2000 budget request for his department, Commerce Secretary William Daley declared that “we are in a new era, with a new kind of economy one driven by technology. In the 21st century, to be economically competitive, all Americans and all American businesses must be technologically sophisticated.” It is the role of NIST to assist the U.S. business community by helping develop technological advances and by providing the infrastructure necessary to exploit them.

NIST’s budget would go up by $93.8 million, or 14.6 percent, to $735.0 million. Substantial increases are requested for construction of facilities (88.4 percent) and the Advanced Technology Program (20.9 percent.) NIST’s intramural laboratories would receive an increase of better than inflation, while funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership would drop, by design, as the centers mature.

NIST FY 1999 FY 2000 program Appropriation Request (In millions) NIST Total $641.2 $735.0 Scientific and Technical Research & Services 280.1 289.6 Advanced Technology Program 197.5* 238.7 Manufacturing Exten- sion Partnership 106.8 99.8 Construction of Facilities 56.7 106.8*reflects $6 million rescission.

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH & SERVICES:NIST’s Scientific and Technical Research and Services (STRS), which comprises its intramural measurements and standards laboratories and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program, would grow by 3.4 percent, to $289.6 million.

Measurement and Standards Laboratories:Funding for the Laboratories would grow by 3.4 percent, to $284.6 million. Three new initiatives would be supported by this request: $2 million toward an effort to remove international trade barriers and improve U.S. representation in the international standards arena; $3 million to improve the security and reliability of critical information and communications systems; and $500,000 to enhance science and technology training for K-12 teachers.

Baldrige Program:Baldrige funding would increase 3.6 percent, to $5.1 million.

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICES:The Industrial Technology Services (ITS) is made up of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). Total ITS funding would grow by 11.2 percent, to $338.5 million.

Advanced Technology Program:An increase of 20.9 percent , or $41.2 million, is being requested for the ATP. This would bring ATP total funding to $238.7 million. The request would provide approximately $73 million for new awards while enabling continuation of multiyear awards and an economic evaluation of the program’s impact. It is worth noting that although the Administration has consistently requested double-digit increases for ATP, Republican opponents in Congress have in recent years refused to provide such increases.

Manufacturing Extension Partnership:The MEP would see a decrease of 6.6 percent, or $7.0 million, to $99.8 million. The request would continue to provide federal funding for MEP centers in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, but the amount would decrease because the federal share of funding declines as the centers mature. No new centers are planned.

CONSTRUCTION OF RESEARCH FACILITIES:Facilities funding would increase by 88.4 percent, or $50.1 million, to $106.8 million. Of the request, $95 million would support construction of the Advanced Measurement Laboratory (AML). This amount would be added to the $108.3 million appropriated in fiscal years 1998 and 1999 for the AML, “which will house the institute’s most advanced metrology, physics, chemistry, electronics, engineering and materials science research,” according to NIST budget documents. “The remaining $12 million would be used to address the highest priority projects among a substantial backlog of critical safety and maintenance needs.”

Keep in mind that, because of controversy over the use of sampling in the 2000 Census, current (FY 1999) funding for the Commerce Department - and therefore NIST - is only in effect through June 15, 1999 (see FYI #147, 1998 .) Thus FY 1999 funding for NIST will need to be revisited as Congress works on the FY 2000 budget.