AAS Informational Email 2004-05

Caty Pilachowski, AAS President

and

Sidney Wolff, Chair of AAS Committee on Astronomy and Public

Policy

Summary

This email presents the legislative strategy the AAS is
following this year in response to the President's FY
2005 budget. Of particular importance to AAS members is
the multiple Action Alert strategy being pursued to ask
Congress to augment/modify the NASA budget request for the
Office of Space Science.

Introduction

As many AAS members are aware, the President's budget is a
mixed bag for astronomy and astrophysics researchers.
Funding in certain areas is increased, and reductions, some
quite significant, are planned for other areas.
Additionally, the new long term direction of NASA may not
leave room for research programs that have been highly
recommended by the scientific community through the various
decadal surveys (Astronomy and Astrophysics, Solar and Space

Physics and Solar System Exploration), which have all been
endorsed by the AAS.

The AAS has an active Committee on Astronomy and Public
Policy that discusses potential AAS reactions or actions on
policy issues and, following policy statement procedures,
provides advice to the AAS Council and Executive Committee
in areas of public policy. CAPP also can issue Action
Alerts on behalf of the Council that focus on specific issues
and seek member action, when such action is likely to have
significant impact. AAS Action Alerts are released with
careful attention to their content and timing.

Background

This year the issues facing our community are especially
complex. The proposed new vision for NASA, the
cancellation of the servicing mission to the Hubble, the
significant changes in the NASA Office of Space Science
budget, and the relatively strong increase in the NSF
budget all combine to make this year an unusually
challenging one from a policy action perspective.

The appropriations process begins to make the news when
the President releases the next fiscal year budget near
the time of the State of the Union address. In actuality,
the cycle of appropriations begins nearly a year and a half
before this date. Agencies develop their fiscal
requirements, submit them to the OMB and iterate with the
OMB on the details of the budget well before the
President's budget is released.

Once the budget is released, Congress begins its own
review, and Members begin to issue statements and prepare to

fight out battles in committee hearings or on the floor of
the House or the Senate. Also, various advocacy groups
begin in earnest to bring their issues to the attention of
certain key legislators.

In typical years, the AAS is able to work with only a few
legislators on a few issues of great concern. Because
budgets have been relatively good, there has been little
cause to take aggressive action. Highly prioritized science

goals have been met or supported by the funding agencies,
and substantial progress has been made.

Strategy for FY 2005

This year is different. To preserve the good funding
environment that has done so much to further our science,
the membership of the AAS needs to undertake a sustained
communications effort. A vocal constituency that
communicates regularly is the most successful in Washington.

Five to ten letters arriving every 2 weeks for 6 months is
more effective than having 20 letters show up covering a
range of issues at a single point in the appropriations
process.

In order to encourage this sustained interaction, CAPP
believes that the best strategy is to send out quasi-regular

action alerts and updates throughout the appropriations
season. Each alert will focus on particular issues in the
budget that negatively (or positively) impact our science.
We hope that this strategy, although it will produce more
messages in our inboxes, will generate more letters in the
hands of Congressional staff, which will directly translate
into more attention to our issues.

We caution members that this communication effort must be
undertaken with the understanding that times are rough
fiscally. The various goals our Nation is pursuing (and
our membership certainly has divergent opinions about these
goals) place fiscal constraints on the discretionary
spending that supports our field. If we are not realistic
in our approach, we run the risk of being viewed as yet
another special interest with our hands outstretched to the
government.

Action Alerts will be formulated by the CAPP chair, working
with the AAS Deputy Executive Officer. We welcome input
from appropriate groups (e.g. for the recent Alert on the
Sun-Earth Connection theme in NASA, the SPD was consulted).

CAPP is continuing to analyze the NASA budget in order to
identify areas where funding reductions are planned that
will negatively impact our field.

Several actions have already been taken. The AAS has
issued a statement on the Hubble Space Telescope, calling
for an independent review of the decision not to perform
future servicing missions, and the society is likely to
issue another statement on this issue once such a review is
concluded.

The AAS has issued an Action Alert on the cuts to the
Sun-Earth Connection division in NASA's Office of Space
Science, which will have severe repercussions for this
community if enacted by Congress.

Planned future Action Alerts (to be issued roughly 2-3
weeks apart) will deal with the reductions to the Structure
and Evolution in the Universe division, including the delay
of the Beyond Einstein initiative, the reductions to the
Explorer mission line, the mixed bag of funding proposals
for Solar System Exploration, Mars Exploration, and new
Lunar Exploration mission lines, the Origins program funding

plans, including the JWST and also the budget situation at
DOE and NSF, including both the Division of Astronomical
Sciences and other NSF divisions that support astronomy.

These efforts are undertaken with the AAS constitution in
mind, which states that the purpose of the society is
"...the advancement of astronomy and closely related
branches of science."

We hope that this email will both explain our strategy to
you, our members, and also stimulate you to write to
Congress more this year than you have in the past. Only
by working together can we ensure the realization of the
Decadal surveys and the advancement of our discipline.

____________________________________________________________

[Mailed to US members from aas.org at 4:15pm, 25 FEBRUARY
2004]

To read previous AAS Informational Emails visit
www.aas.org/policy/InformationalEmails.html
To read previous AAS Action Alerts visit
www.aas.org/policy/ActionAlerts.html
Comments, questions and complaints to:
marvel@aas.org