The US Senate is working on the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment bill, and as of today, it appears that it will be approved in the Senate, perhaps on Tuesday.

However, Shawn Otto has been in contact with citizens that are members of the ScienceDebate2008. On Friday, February 6, he informed the membership that it looked like a good deal of the funds that were earmarked for science were going to be zeroed out during the meetings among senators to reduce the initial Senate bill by about 77 billion.

In a rally of the troops email, he encourage members to contact senators directly, and point out how science and technology have produced about half of the economic growth of the USA since WWII, that basic research was an investment in the future, and that many federal granting agencies are ready to use the funds to increase many thousands of high-quality jobs in science & technology.

It turned out that in the compromise hearings, science and technology lines were cut, but not nearly what was initially proposed.  For example, instead of zeroing out 100% of new funds for NSF, the final cut was only 14.26%.  You can see other examples below.  Of course, it is important to keep in mind that the Senate has not voted on the bill, and although it is expected to pass, one has to wait.  And, then the differences between the House version and the Senate version will  have to be reconciled  before it goes to the President for his signature.

Proposed cuts to major science agencies; % cut in final compromise; including total amounts. These figures represent new funds that are in addition to the agencies' present budget.

You also might want to see the complete House bill, Senate bill, and Amended Senate bill across all agencies of the US government in this spreadsheet link.