The federal government may come up with more money for technology research and other scientific work, much of which is done at universities, and it may do so this year. That is if the current inside-the-Beltway Washington gossip is to be believed.
A supplemental appropriations bill, slowly grinding its way through Congress, may contain more money for research, say the folks at the Computing Research Policy Blog, which comes from the Computing Research Association.
“We’re starting to hear from folks on the Hill that it’s looking more like science funding might be included in the initial supplemental when it comes out of the Senate,” report the bloggers. “What’s less clear is how much, though the consensus seems to be ‘likely less than the science and technology community hopes it will be.’”
The House has its own version of the supplemental bill, and there is not a lot of information about how that compares to the Senate version. Appropriations committees begin hearings on these bills in the next several weeks, so things will become clearer then. —Josh Fischman
