That’s the prediction of Rep. James Walsh (R-NY), who chairs the subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee that deals with VA, HUD, and independent agencies like NASA. That subcommittee is scheduled to meet Tuesday and mark up their FY2005 budget bill. In an article in Monday’s Syracuse Post-Standard, Walsh said that this year’s budget will be the toughest he has had to deal with in his six years chairing the subcommittee because money is particularly tight this year. As a result, the various departments and agencies included in this budget bill will likely not get all the money requested in the President’s original budget proposal. This includes NASA, which is seeking an $866 million increase over FY04:
Measured against other critical needs, “I don’t see how I can do that,” Walsh said.
The full House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to take up the budget bill later this week, just before recess.
This comes at the same time that return-to-flight costs have increased. What will be the effect of higher RTF costs and no increase, or even a decrease in NASA’s budget?
The indefinite postponement of publically funded human space flight in America, along with the greater risk that ISS will be abandoned.
Mind, I think Tom Delay is right and the real bill will be crafted in conference after the election, with the results determining how much and what gets funded.
NASA OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS
The NASA Hearings provides a brief description of NASA-related hearings and markups scheduled before the House and Senate committees/subcommittees that have oversight over NASA. The subject, witness(es), time and location of each hearing is identified.
Congressional Hearing Calendar
http://legislative.nasa.gov/hearings/
Well while the battle lines are still in a state of flux. House Panel OKs Cutting Bush NASA Request. http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/9198497.htm
NASA faces big spending cuts daily briefing from Govexec.
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=29020&dcn=todaysnews
HIGHLIGHTS OF FY 2005 VA-HUD APPROPRIATIONS BILL
July 20th, 2004 – –
FY04 Bill (Discretionary): $90.8 billion
FY05 President’s Request (Discretionary): $92.1 billion
FY05 Bill (Discretionary): $92.9 billion
http://appropriations.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=414
“NASA is funded at $15.1 billion, $229 million below last year and $1.1 billion below the request. The bulk of these savings come from the elimination of funding for new initiatives. The reductions include $30 million for technology maturation efforts; $230 million from Project Prometheus related to Jupiter Icy Moon Orbital; $438 million resulting from delaying the Crew Exploration Vehicle; and $100 million from Space Launch Initiatives by accelerating the termination of activities. The bill fully funds shuttle operations at the requested level of $4.3 billion. The committee fully funds Mars programs at the requested level of $691 million.”
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=14633
Well It won’t be lower than $15.1 billion and it will go up maybe to the same level as last year. Space Exploration is like supporting the Chicago Cubs.
They pick a fine day to cut the NASA budget
I know, what better day than the 35th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing.
I wish congress would attach NASA’s budget to the DOD budget instead of VA and HUD. How much does one stealth bomber cost? I’m sure they could pull 1 billion out of DOD for the national security of space. Maybe from Title VI – Other Department of Defense Programs: 20.6 billion.
I had posted these questions with regards to the moon to mars blits.
So how does one measure success from lobbying for a cause?
Has any bills or new laws been passed?
Has a number of congressman decided to join the cause or to voice support for it?
I am however glad that the collective voice of these association were heard. Hopefully it can make a difference with getting the budgets for Nasa passed, New laws written and so much more.
Now knowing the out come of the passed Nasa budget. I would say it had a negative effect.
Turns out Congress reduced NASA’s 2005 budget by 7% from what President Bush wanted. This is exactly why having large-scale space programs, like sending people to the Moon, should not be dependent on the government. Each year, such a program will be vulnerable to the whims of Congress, not to mention the changing direction of new administrations.
A space economic development plan makes more sense from the general standpoint of shifting the burden to the commercial sector and making the government a better customer. Clearly, the government would be the main customer, essentially subsidizing the efforts deemed profitable by the commercial sector. But this would be an investment (a lot of money up front, but with payoffs down the road for our descendents).
Instead, if Bush’s plan continues more or less intact, we will be stuck with an anemic program characterized by fits and starts, with perhaps two guys on the Moon by 2025 doing essentially nothing (ISS on the Moon).
The government should swing a rope with a grappling hook on one end and capture the Moon. That grappling hook could be anything, perhaps an astronomical observatory (the burden becomes convincing Americans it’s worth it, and that’s an easier sell than invading Iraq for dubious reasons). The commercial sector should then be coaxed to climb the rope in an effort to seed further activity. Will it work? Maybe and maybe not. But such an approach (Commercial First) has a better chance of working than a “Government First” method (which is, actually, anti-American).
Mr. Malkin wrote:
“I’m sure they could pull 1 billion out of DOD for the national security of space.”
You do remember that there is a war on, right?
People need to keep things in perspective. This is the work of one comittee and the full house *coughTom Delaycough* hasn’t weighed in neither has it been reconciled with the Senate.
This is more pointing of weapons at the heads of dogs while accompanied by threats in pursuit of the sale of books and perodicals at this juncture.
Yes, I do know there is a war but I’m sure that there is waste in the DOD budget. They fund the war at 25 billion for Operational costs in Iraq and Afganistan. The DOD budget for next year is 415.9 billion as I said 1 billion from here wouldn’t make a difference except slow down a couple of R&D projects. Another thing way is the government still paying for Amtrac?
Anyway this is just the first round of votes it’s a long way from being law. I think the odds are they will find the money from somewhere.
Remember Space is not very important to the vast majority of Congress in either house. It can be a success if the space community organizes like Gun Rights advocates, Same Sex Marriage advocates, Environmentalists, Right Wing Religious fundamentalists, Hispanic Rights advocates, and all the other successful communities who can get things done because they have a common cause, and can organize. Time to get ORGANIZED!
Some in the space community have grown disgusted with the infighting, the doctrinal disputes, the destinational conflicts, and all the rest of the discord the space community is famous for, and have left the active space advocate community in favor of sniping from the outside at a distance. And I can see their point. The space advocate community needs to change their ways, organize, get active, hedge their bets as to means, Network for common small scale projects that can make a difference now and in the future, find alternate means and forms of finance for space development, and communicate with each other in a spirit of common cause.
A balance between being active in the world beyond the space community can counter being active amongst ourselves, and amongst people who now know for a fact space does not concern them. We can gain converts in other communities beyond the government-industry-academia troika that has dominated space development till now. Get in touch with the Jaycees, the Mormon Church, your local Synagogue, and Rabbi, the Jesuits, and everyone else you think can help to move the common man and woman into space, and do it in concert with and independent of VSE, and get their help. If they know they have a stake in space development, and want more or different than VSE’s skeletal infrastructure could give us, get them involved now.
Move beyond Industrial Age means, and use the power of the Network enterprise to work together on what we can do in a few months to a few years to gain converts, raise capital, and sell VSE to the younger people who will move to space. Get them thinking space now, and have them tell their teachers, fellow students, parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and everyone else they want space when they grow up, and by any means necessary. And Lobby, Lobby, Lobby.