Bush Signs Interim 2009 Budget

Just hours before the start of fiscal 2009, President George W. Bush signed into law a temporary spending bill to extend funding for the federal government through March 6, 2009. The bill contains final 2009 appropriations for the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs and temporary 2009 budgets for all other federal agencies. The three finalized agencies are set to see growth in their R&D budgets, as will USDA—at least until March; however, all other agencies will receive the same or slightly less R&D funding than was appropriated for 2008. For example, the 2009 budgets for NIST and NOAA are flat, while funding for NSF, NIH, NASA, and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science will decrease from 2008 levels because the bill does not take into account supplemental funding levels enacted in June (C&EN, June 30, page 11). This means that R&D funding is $4.5 billion at NSF, down 0.5% from 2008; $29.5 billion at NIH, down 0.5%; $12.2 billion at NASA, down 0.5%; and $3.6 billion for the DOE Office of Science, down 1.7%. The next Congress will have to reconsider the budget when it convenes in January.