Program Update: Advocacy – April 2011
Filed under: Action,News & Resources,Policy,Program Updates,Program Updates - Advocacy
Congress has been on recess for two weeks in April and will reconvene on May 2. However, a government shut-down was averted at the eleventh hour as President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) and Speaker of the House Boehner (R-OH) reached a budget accord. The budget deal effectively cuts spending levels for FY11 at approximately $39 billion below FY10 levels. NSF received approximately a 1 percent cut, which is far below the 7 percent budget increase the President requested in accordance with the doubling path set out in the America COMPETES Act. NOAA only received a $25 million cut below FY10 levels, but did not receive the requested $800 million plus-up for its satellite programs, leading to predictions of impending data gaps. NASA was flat funded, but did receive a big boost in their science account.
This month also marked the one-year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon tragedy, which resulted in the loss of 11 lives and the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. Members of Congress have introduced numerous bills addressing some issues around future oil spill responses and current and future restoration efforts. Other legislation proposed increasing the liability cap for companies to pay for damages and reversing the slow-down of permits issued for offshore drilling. A full list of all oil spill-related legislation can be found here.
