Protect science funding, task force urges

In a 13 October letter to the chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, members of the Task Force on American Innovation urged that

Among the 42 organizations and companies that make up the task force are the American Institute of Physics (which publishes Physics Today) and the American Physical Society. Google and IBM Corp also belong to the task force.

The letter comes when other countries, such as Singapore and China, are maintaining or increasing their investment into STEM areas. Indeed, only last week, the UK government announced its intention to maintain science funding at current levels for the next four years despite dramatic cuts in spending across nearly all other government departments.

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was established by President Obama in February. It is cochaired by a Democrat, Erskine Bowles, former chief of staff to President Clinton, and Alan Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming. The commission , which acts only as a source of advice, has 18 members. No fewer than 14 members must approve a report by 1 December that will be sent to the president to suggest ways in which the US government can balance the budget by 2015.

Science funding is considered particularly at risk in any cuts that the commission proposes, as all of its funding is discretionary—that is, unlike funding for Medicare and Medicaid, which is mandated by a specific law, science funding has to be renewed in each year’s budget.

Amended and modified by Paul Guinnessy. The full, unmodified version appeared as “Recent Developments: Task Force on American Innovation Calls for Robust Support of Basic Research and STEM Education; UK Budget Plan Maintains Science Funding” by Richard M. Jones at AIP’s FYI.