Show us the money!
Smithsonian Fiscal Year 2020 Federal Budget Tops $1 Billion
The appropriation includes funding for the Women’s History Initiative and Latino programming, more money for deferred maintenance and approval for the purchase of a new office building.
The final appropriation for the Smithsonian for fiscal year 2020, which began Oct. 1, 2019, is $1.047 billion, a slight increase over last fiscal year’s appropriation of $1.043 billion. The Smithsonian’s Salaries and Expenses (S&E) account—its operating budget—is $793.7 million, and the Facilities Capital account—for major renovations and new construction—is $253.7 million.
Salaries and Expenses
The S&E appropriation for FY 2020 was increased by $53.6 million, which includes an additional $35 million for deferred maintenance and repairs, $6.5 million to support Institution-wide programs (about $3 million for the Women’s History Initiative and $3 million for Latino programming) and $5.5 million for increased security staffing. The approved amount includes a funding increase of $4 million for fixed costs (utilities, rent, software licenses and other operating expenses) and other management support. Congress did not provide additional funding to cover the 2020 pay raise of 3.5%, but the Smithsonian’s federal and trust-funded employees in the Washington, D.C., area will receive that pay increase.
The bill includes language to allow the Smithsonian to purchase a new administrative building at 600 Maryland Ave. S.W. with the Institution’s trust funds. The purchase is intended to avoid escalating lease costs and increase efficiency by consolidating staff housed in leased locations in Southwest Washington and Crystal City, Virginia. Currently, the Smithsonian is leasing office space in that two-tower building (known as Capital Gallery), and plans call for more offices to relocate there as leases in other locations expire. The purchase will be finalized in the coming months, and office moves will be phased in over several years.
Facilities Capital
The Facilities Capital appropriation for renovations and repairs of some of the oldest and most visited museums is $253.7 million, including $224.4 million for continuing renovations and additional facilities project staff. Among the highest priorities this year are the National Air and Space Museum, the National Zoo, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and smaller projects at various locations.
The planning and design allocation of more than $29 million will go toward major revitalization projects such as the Castle and the Arts and Industries Building ($16 million), storage facilities at the Museum Support Center campus in Suitland, Maryland, the National Zoo and three older museums on the National Mall (Natural History, American History and the Hirshhorn).
| Fiscal Year 2019 Enacted | Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriated |
|
| Salaries and Expenses (S&E) | $739,994,000 | $793,658,000 |
| Facilities Capital
Revitalization Planning and Design for future projects Total |
$286,503,000 $17,000,000 $303,503,000 |
$224,400,000 $29,300,000 $253,700,000 |
| Total Accounts | $1,043,497,000 | $1,047,358,000 |
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Posted: 14 January 2020
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Categories:
Administrative News , Feature Stories , News & Announcements
Without the corresponding budget increase to match the pay increase, it puts a lot of departments in a tight position to make cuts somewhere else to accommodate the mandatory increase.
So only SI employees in D.C. will receive the pay increase? Seems pretty unfair to the units in other parts of the country and the world.