APS LEGISLATIVE ALERT EMAIL

Date: March 22, 2004

To: U.S. APS Members

From: APS Public Policy Board

Subject: Legislative Alert-Call for NRI Funding

 

Dear APS member:

The Competitive Grants Programs in the Department of Agriculture-Cooperative States Research, Extension and Education Service, especially the National Research Initiative, are major sources of funding for research activities in plant pathology. With large overall budget deficits and plans to reduce the federal budget deficit by half in three to five years, there is the likely prospect that many Appropriations Subcommittees in Congress will receive low budget allocations for Fiscal Year 2005. This could adversely affect funding for research programs, such as the NRI. The first vote this year on funding for the NRI could occur in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture. Your help is needed to ask your Congressman or Congresswoman to urge the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture Chairman and Subcommittee Ranking Member to support a $200-million request for the NRI. Although the $200 million stated in the example letter is above the $180 million in the President's budget, the NRI has been significantly underfunded since its inception. In FY2003, 644 NRI grants were awarded, but another 850 proposals ranked as fundable were declined due to lack of funding. Another $333 was needed to fund this quality proposed work. The proposal success rate was 21.5%, which is considerably less than other federal agencies. 

 

Following is a sample letter:

 

(Date)

The Honorable (name of Congressman or Congresswoman)

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

 

Dear Congressman (name of Congressman):

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Research Initiative (NRI) Competitive Grants Program and other competitive programs in the USDA supports research into fundamental questions that lead to new practices, technologies and crops that address problems in plant health. These research findings help address critical needs of the nation's producers and lead to sound and effective approaches to manage the plant diseases that reduce the profitability and quality of crops produced in the United States. NRI-sponsored plant research is needed to help prevent future losses of crops to diseases and pests. Advances in science made possible through the NRI and other competitive programs will enable producers to continue the long-standing goal of sustainable crop production across the U.S.

 

Research sponsored by the NRI contributes to higher yields and greater profitability for U.S. producers. The NRI also contributes to the talent pool of agricultural scientists in the state and nation to better serve the needs of producers and consumers. In 2003, NRI grant support for research in [NAME OF YOUR STATE HERE] totaled [DOLLAR AMOUNT HERE -- SEE NRI STATE AWARDS LISTING BELOW]. The funding that was obtained helped in addressing [INSERT SPECIFIC ISSUE IF YOU CAN PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE]. Without grant support from the NRI, the agricultural research community in our state would be severely weakened. As a member of the American Phytopathological Society, the leading professional scientific organization representing scientists and practitioners of plant pathology dedicated to the study and control of plant disease, I hope you will support a $200 million request for the NRI in the Fiscal Year 2005 budget. The NRI has been underfunded since its inception. In FY 2003 in addition to the 644 NRI grants awarded, there were another 850 proposals ranked as fundable but declined due to lack of resources. Funded these additional excellent proposals required an additional $333 million. The success rate for NRI proposals was 21.5%, which is far less than that of other federal research agencies.  Please send a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture urging support for USDA''s Fiscal Year 2005 budget request of $200 million for the NRI.

Sincerely,

(your name)

**********************************************

State and State Total in $

AL $1,710,123

AR 1,279,267

AZ 3,819,779

CA 11,377,180

CO 2,010,574

CT 1,819,920

DC 420,000

DE 973,098

FL 1,275,000

GA 2,792,432

GU 75,000

HI 1,090,000

IA 5,926,656

ID 1,588,042

IL 7,874,591

IN 5,057,774

KS 4,451,505

KY 483,497

LA 685,986

MA 1,964,781

MD 2,629,288

ME 735,578

MI 3,540,896

MN 6,548,185

MO 3,074,935

MS 1,340,274

MT 1,739,840

NC 6,063,647

ND 319,381

NE 1,496,793

NH 1,249,845

NJ 1,516,114

NM 1,574,440

NV 591,249

NY 9,035,004

OH 2,428,743

OK 1,255,931

OR 2,654,744

PA 4,203,869

PR 148,067

RI 441,448

SC 622,263

SD 707,584

TN 1,707,344

TX 11,946,528

UT 446,000

VA 2,271,115

VT 1,166,871

WA 4,485,554

WI 4,820,601

WV 460,669

WY 993,484