ployees. NASA also advised that it was undertaking a "broad study of its support service contracts to evaluate the basis for decisions to contract out, to evaluate the administration of the contracts to assure they conform with sound management practice and applicable statute, and to assure that the costs of such are carefully considered as an important factor in determining the best means for providing the services required." The Counsel's concluding views were as follows: In the absence of clear legislation expressly authorizing the procurement of personnel to perform the regular functions of agencies without regard to the personnel laws we must insist on scrupulous adherence to those laws and the policies they embody. Accordingly, contracts which, when realistically viewed, contain all the following elements, each to any substantial degree, either in the terms of the contract, or in its performance, constitute the procurement of personal services proscribed by the personnel laws: Performance onsite; Principal tools and equipment furnished by the Government; Services are applied directly to integral effort of agencies or an organizational subpart in furtherance of assigned function or mission; Comparable services, meeting comparable needs, are performed in the same or similar agencies using civil service personnel expected to last beyond 1 year; The inherent nature of the service, or the manner in which it is provided reasonably requires directly or indirectly, Government direction or supervision of contractor employees in order to adequately protect the Government's interest or to retain control of the function involved, or to retain full personal responsibility for the function supported in a duly authorized Federal officer or employee. Applying these standards, the contracts under review and all like them are proscribed unless an agency possesses a specific exception from the personnel laws to procure personal services by contract. CHAPTER VI FEDERAL FUNDS FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT From the viewpoint of public policy for science and technology, a concrete indicator of change and trends in policy is Federal funding of scientific and technological activities. The 90th Congress has appropriated the funds for 1 fiscal year, 1968, and is now in the midst of appropriating funds for fiscal year 1969. This chapter sets out information on the fiscal year 1968 and fiscal year 1969 funds for research and development, excerpts relevant parts from the President's budget message for fiscal year 1968, and calls attention to highlights of the latest National Science Foundation report on Federal funds for science and technology. 1. THE FISCAL YEAR 1968 BUDGET The President's budget request for fiscal year 1968 included $17.3 billion in obligations for Federal research and development, including facilities. Authorizing legislation and appropriations during the first session of the 90th Congress are estimated by the administration to fund obligations of $16.9 billion, with expenditures for fiscal 1968 estimated at $16.5 billion, in comparison with the initial estimate of over $17 billion, in January 1967. year During the 89th Congress and thus far in the 90th Congress, total funding for Federal research and development and related activities has been within 5 percent of $17 billion, ranging from obligations of $16.3 billion for fiscal year 1966 to $17.7 billion requested for fiscal year 1969, with $16.9 estimated for fiscal year 1968. Corresponding expenditures range from $16 billion for fiscal year 1966 to an estimated $17.3 billion for fiscal year 1969, with that for fiscal year 1968 being $16.5 billion. Figure I shows this data graphically, while table I gives supporting details. Table 2 gives a breakdown of obligations for 14 departments and agencies for fiscal years 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1969. Three agencies, the Department of Defense, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration account for 75 percent of obligations for reseach, 89 percent for development and 43 percent for facilities for fiscal year 1968. Tables 3, 4 and 5 give more detail and comparisons for research, development and facilities respectively. The funding trend for research is slightly upward, increasing 2.7 percent from actual obligations of $5.4 billion for fiscal year 1967 to the latest estimate of $5.5 billion for fiscal year 1968. The $6 billion requested for fiscal year 1969 would increase obligations for research in that fiscal year more than 9 percent above the latest fiscal year 1968 estimate. As 92-026-68- -10 for development, the $10.8 billion estimated for fiscal year 1968 is about 0.9 percent more than the actual fiscal year 1967 figure of $10.7 billion, while the request for fiscal year 1969 would increase obligations for development by 1.7 percent to $11 billion. Facilities for research and development show a somewhat different trend. Obligations decrease about 11 percent from fiscal year 1967 to the fiscal year 1968 figure of $587 million, an increase more than 28 percent to the $754 million requested for fiscal year 1969. Further details about major agency requests for research and development will be found in appendix VI, which excerpts the special analysis for research and development for fiscal year 1968. |