The President has submitted a budget to Congress that proposes fiscal year 2003 funding for the FCC of just over $278 million, a 13.5% increase over the FY 2002 level of about $245 million.
Nearly 25% of the requested increase, more than $8 million, will cover mandatory increases for salaries and benefits and other areas and inflationary increases for contract services. The requested increase includes funds to continue expansion of electronic filing, improve technical and economic expertise of staff, address life-cycle replacement of technical monitoring and testing equipment, provide infrastructure improvement to the laboratory facility, enhance the commission's information technology infrastructure, and enable the commission to improve its homeland security position.