TMS Public and Governmental Affairs Resource Center

FROM THE FEDERATION OF MATERIALS SOCIETIES: The House and Senate passed their respective versions of the fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget resolution, and the final reconciled measure is expected to be passed in advance of the April 15 statutory deadline. The resolution does not have to be signed by the president, but it does provide a blueprint into which Congress must fit appropriations for agency spending. It also serves as what has been called “a policy manifesto for the majority party”—in a symbolic show, not a single Republican voted for the House version, for example. The good news about the resolution is that both versions provide room for spending on the president’s request for programs under the America COMPETES Act, which would put the National Science Foundation, the Office of Science within the Department of Energy, and the core laboratory programs of the National Institute of Standards and Technology back on track to double their aggregate budgets over the next several years. And despite the lack of Republican support for the budget resolution, the COMPETES Act enjoys wide bi-partisan support.

The real budget battles, as always, will be in the appropriations process, which already has begun. Senators and Congressmen have been busy making program requests to the Appropriations Committees, and a series of very successful “Dear Colleague” letter-writing campaigns have been carried out within Congress to get the COMPETES programs high on the priority list. As the process continues, it will be important for the materials community to make its voice heard to appropriators and rank-and-file senators and representatives.

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