Federal budget so far not good for Fermilab

The proposed federal budget could jeopardize Fermilab's bid to house a multibillion-dollar international project and force layoffs at the Batavia facility, officials said Tuesday.

A "disaster in the making" is how Fermi Director Pier Oddone called the spending plan, approved Monday by the House of Representatives in a 253-154 vote. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the $516 billion proposal sometime this week before sending it to the president.

The proposal "is devastating for high-energy physics at a time when we have the most promising program in generations," Oddone wrote on Fermilab's Web site. "The report is especially punishing of Fermilab's programs."

The situation echoes a scenario discussed in January, when Fermi officials pondered layoffs and a temporary shutdown when Congress stalled in approving a budget for the U.S. Department of Energy, which funds Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

The House-Senate compromise now under consideration represents a $33 million decrease from Fermi's fiscal 2007 funding levels. As proposed, the shortfall would likely result in a layoff of between 200 and 300 employees and would negatively affect Fermi's neutrino program, and its research and development on the International Linear Collider and Super Conducting Radio Frequency Accelerator projects, Oddone wrote in a letter to members of Illinois' congressional delegation.

Oddone plans to meet with employees Thursday to discuss contingency plans. Putting staff on an unpaid furlough for two months also is an option.

Democratic congressional candidate Bill Foster, a former Fermilab physicist, said the cuts could have deep-reaching consequences not only for Fermilab but also for the local economy. The lab employs 1,900 and serves as a regional economic engine.

"The proposed cuts to Fermilab-based programs are a threat to our economy and are based on a flawed understanding of the need for basic, long-term, fundamental research," the Geneva businessman said in a news conference Tuesday. "We have to tackle a series of important issues, from energy independence to dealing with global warming, but cutting back on fundamental research is a massive mistake."