AAAS R&D Funding Update May 18, 2007 -

FY 2008 Appropriations Begin With More Money
for R&D and Other Programs

Go to: -Table I-8. R&D Funding by Congressional Appropriations Subcommittee -Table I-4. Major Functional Categories of R&D AAAS Report XXXII: Research and Development FY 2008 (full text and ordering information) PDF version of this document Detailed agency updates: U.S. Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce Department of Defense Department of Energy Department of Homeland Security Department of the Interior Department of Transportation Department of Veterans Affairs Environmental Protection Agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Institutes of Health and HHS National Science Foundation

(This analysis is the first of a series of AAAS R&D Funding Updates on the FY 2008 congressional appropriations process. This analysis includes information on the FY 2008 budget resolution, and the FY 2007 supplemental. The complete series of AAAS R&D Funding Updates, including updated analyses of R&D in FY 2008 appropriations, is available on the AAAS R&D Web Site (www.aaas.org/spp/rd) in the "FY 2008 R&D" and "What's New" sections.) This analysis updates recent developments in the congressional FY 2008 appropriations process. FY 2008 Appropriations Begin This Week: $21 Billion More than the Request On May 17, the Democratic-majority Congress gave final approval to an FY 2008 budget resolution (S. Con. Res. 21), a move that allows the Appropriations Committees to begin work on the FY 2008 appropriations bills. Appropriations kick off May 18 in the House with the initial markup of the Homeland Security appropriations bill. The budget resolution is an annual congressional document that represents the congressional response to the President’s February budget request, and provides a big-picture budget framework for all later congressional budget decisions. The budget contains broad spending and revenue targets broken down into smaller budget targets for various committees; its importance is in the overall guidance it gives to the fragmented congressional process, and it remains the only time Congress gets to consider the entire $3 trillion federal budget as a whole. For the federal R&D investment, nearly all of which is allocated through appropriations for discretionary spending, the budget resolution sets a total amount for all discretionary appropriations; working from that total, the Appropriations Committees spend the rest of the year dividing up that total among the 12 annual appropriations bills, and further dividing those totals into program-by-program funding levels for federal R&D and other discretionary programs.  The FY 2008 budget resolution allocates $954 billion for regular (non-emergency) FY 2008 appropriations, $21 billion more than the request. The budget assumes the requested amount for defense discretionary programs, so the additional $21 billion would go to shore up funding for nondefense programs. The additional money would allow nondefense programs overall to increase slightly ahead of inflation, instead of declining as in the President’s request. Considering that historically federal R&D investments have been roughly 1 out of every 7 discretionary dollars, the budget resolution could mean $3 billion or so more than the request for federal R&D programs on the domestic side.  The additional $21 billion could go a long way toward turning steep requested cuts into flat funding or increases. For the R&D investment, as reported in AAAS Report XXXII: R&D FY 2008, the comprehensive analysis of the FY 2008 R&D request, the budget request proposes large increases for three signature Bush Administration priorities: research funding in the three physical sciences agencies of the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI; the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratories), development funding in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for new human spacecraft, and development funding for new weapons systems in the Department of Defense (DOD). But within the overall declining nondefense budget, nearly all other R&D programs would see their funding fall in FY 2008, including most environmental research programs, biomedical research in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and even non-priority funding within priority agencies such as NASA’s research portfolio and NIST’s extramural programs. The budget resolution’s $954 billion total could allow appropriators to sustain the requested increases for ACI and other programs, but also boost funding for NIH and other agencies whose budgets would be cut. Armed with a completed budget resolution, in contrast to last year when Congress was unable to agree on one, congressional appropriators can move immediately to kick off the FY 2008 appropriations, starting in the House. The Homeland Security subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee drafts the first FY 2008 appropriations bill today (May 18), to give the first congressional indications of program-by-program FY 2008 funding levels for federal programs. Next week, the full House Appropriations Committee will ratify its “302(b) allocations,” that is the $954 billion total apportioned among the 12 appropriations bills. The 302(b) allocations will provide additional indications on how R&D programs could fare in the appropriations process. From then, the appropriations process could move relatively quickly, especially in the House, working toward the goal of getting all 12 bills through the House by July and the final versions of all the bills to the President by October 1. The Senate has traditionally needed more time for appropriations because Senate rules allow for long debate and numerous amendments on any bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee hopes to follow just a few weeks behind its House counterpart, but the real challenge will be scheduling enough floor time for the full Senate to debate and approve its versions of the 12 bills. The real test, however, could come from the President. Although President Bush has never vetoed a regular appropriations bill, this is the first year he has faced a Democratic Congress. Already, the Bush Administration has threatened to veto FY 2008 appropriations bills if they exceed his request for discretionary spending. Collectively, of course, the bills could exceed his request by $21 billion so there is a real chance that he will veto the bill that causes appropriations to exceed his $933 billion request, but the veto threat is vague enough that Administration officials have left open the possibility that he may veto any or even all of the appropriations bills. R&D in FY 2008 Appropriations Bills: R&D in 10 of 12 Bills The FY 2008 federal R&D portfolio would be divided among 10 of the 12 separate appropriations bills (see Table I-8). Four appropriations bills would fund 95 percent of all federal R&D, and the major R&D funding agencies of DOD, NIH, NASA, and DOE would be funded in separate bills. Table I-8 shows the distribution of the federal R&D portfolio among the appropriations subcommittees; each subcommittee produces its appropriations bill separately from the others, and each bill is usually signed into law separately, although in recent years several bills have had to be bundled into a single omnibus appropriations bill at the end of the congressional session. The FY 2007 joint funding resolution, for example, functioned like an omnibus bill containing 9 of the then-11 appropriations bills (a new Financial Services bill has been carved out for the FY 2008 process, bringing the new total to 12). The division of the budget into 12 appropriations bills limits the extent to which it is possible to coordinate or trade off increases and decreases in agency R&D budgets in the congressional process. For example, three R&D agencies—NSF, NASA, and the Department of Commerce—come under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science. NIH appropriations continue to reside in the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education subcommittee. This means, for example, that NASA does not compete with NIH for funds, although NASA does compete with NSF. But this system does mean that R&D programs compete with non-R&D programs in the same appropriations bill for limited funds. In the FY 2008 process, NIH will compete for funds against non-R&D programs in the Education and Labor departments, as well as other health programs in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Budget Functions: More for NSF, NASA, DOE, and NIH Possible Although the budget resolution does not contain program-by-program funding levels, it does contain ‘budget function’ totals that serve as guides for appropriators and expressions of congressional priorities. The budget divides the $954 billion total for all discretionary spending by budget functions, or national missions, giving a preliminary indication of how Congress would like to allocate the additional $21 billion it has given appropriators. Below is a short summary of selected budget functions and the potential impacts of the new budget resolution (the parentheses refer to function numbers). Table I-4 shows the federal R&D portfolio by national mission or budget function (AAAS splits function 250 into the subfunctions of general science and space). Defense (050) – The congressional allocation of $503.8 billion for defense matches the President’s request, but Congress is likely to shift money around. Every year, Congress has added billions of dollars to DOD R&D on top of the request, primarily through the addition of performer-specific earmarks. The pattern will hold in FY 2008, so the Pentagon’s requested 20 percent cut in DOD’s “S&T” programs (basic and applied research plus early technology development) will most likely become flat funding or a slight increase. General Science, Space and Technology (250) – This function covers NSF, DOE Office of Science, and NASA funding. The budget assumes $27.5 billion in appropriations for these programs, more than the $27.3 billion request and therefore more than enough to provide the full ACI increases for NSF and the DOE Office of Science, with enough to fund NASA spacecraft development but also NASA’s support of research. Energy (270) – This function covers DOE’s energy programs. The $4.8 billion allocation is above the $4.3 billion request, indicating that Congress would like to add significantly to DOE’s requested FY 2008 cuts in energy R&D, from an FY 2007 total already boosted by this 110th Congress. Health (550) – This function covers discretionary health programs in HHS, more than half of which goes to NIH. The $55.0 billion allocation is $3 billion more than the request, which gives appropriators ample room to turn a requested cut in NIH funding into an increase. FY 2007 Supplemental: More for Defense R&D This Year Earlier this month, President Bush used only his second veto of his presidency on the $124 billion FY 2007 supplemental bill, primarily to fund the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congress is working furiously to finalize a supplemental bill acceptable to the President before Memorial Day. The vetoed supplemental contains $1.4 billion in new FY 2007 R&D funding, nearly all of it ‘D’ for DOD development. Because the President’s veto was over legislative language to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, the R&D funding is expected to remain in any supplemental eventually signed by the President. The supplemental provides slightly less for R&D than the President’s request, so total federal R&D in FY 2007 would drop from $141.2 billion as reported in AAAS Report XXXII: R&D FY 2008 (which includes requested supplemental funds) to $141.1 billion. All further AAAS analyses of R&D in the FY 2008 appropriations will be adjusted to reflect enacted supplemental funds.  Next Steps and Possible Impacts  The Appropriations Committees will begin drafting and approving appropriations bills in coming weeks. A continually updated table on the current status of FY 2008 appropriations will be available on the AAAS R&D web site, and AAAS R&D Funding Updates on House and Senate R&D appropriations for the major R&D funding agencies will also be available at each stage of the FY 2008 appropriations process.  - May 18, 2007 AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program 1200 New York Ave, NW Washington, DC 20005 (202) 326-6607 science_policy@aaas.org http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd Table I-8 . R&D Funding by Congressional Appropriations Subcommittee     (budget authority in millions of dollars)                           FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 Change FY 07-08 Agencies and   Actual Estimate * Budget Amount Percent Programs               Defense 73,559 77,823 78,658 835 1.1% Most DOD Labor, HHS, Education 29,102 29,770 29,481 -289 -1.0% Labor, HHS, Education Commerce, Justice, Science 16,666 17,505 18,632 1,127 6.4% Commerce, NASA, NSF, DOJ Energy & Water 8,727 8,851 9,357 506 5.7% All DOE, Corps of Eng, NRC Agriculture 2,266 2,078 1,845 -233 -11.2% Most USDA (ex. Forest Serv.) Interior and Environment 1,795 1,760 1,714 -46 -2.6% Interior, EPA, FS, Smithsonian Homeland Security 1,300 1,005 996 -8 -0.8% DHS Military Quality of Life / VA 1,500 1,226 1,160 -66 -5.3% Some DOD, VA Transp., Treasury, Judiciary 916 887 920 33 3.7% DOT, HUD Foreign Operations 255 255 255 0 0.0% AID, Int'l Orgs.   ______ ______ ______           Total R&D 136,086 141,159 143,019 1,859 1.3%                               Source: AAAS, based on estimates for R&D from OMB and agency data. Legislative Branch subcomm. not shown (no R&D). April 17, 2007 - revised             * - FY 2007 figures are latest AAAS estimates of final 2007 appropriations (P.L. 110-5).   Table I-4. Major Functional Categories of R&D         (budget authority in millions of dollars)                           FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 Change FY 07-08 % of   Actual Estimate * Budget Amount Percent Total ('08)               Defense (050) 1/ 78,737 82,226 82,967 741 0.9% 58.0%               Nondefense 2/ 57,349 58,933 60,051 1,118 1.9% 42.0%                 Space (252) 10,401 11,111 12,040 929 8.4% 8.4%   Health (550) 29,699 30,405 30,078 -327 -1.1% 21.0%   Energy (270) 1,244 1,617 1,485 -132 -8.2% 1.0%   General Science (251) 7,539 7,993 8,908 915 11.4% 6.2%   Environment (300) 3/ 2,242 2,131 2,021 -110 -5.2% 1.4%   Agriculture (350) 2,118 1,934 1,706 -228 -11.8% 1.2%   Transportation (400) 1,730 1,509 1,387 -121 -8.0% 1.0%   Commerce (370) 461 516 543 27 5.2% 0.4%   International (150) 255 255 255 0 0.0% 0.2%   Justice (750) 4/ 1,008 790 897 108 13.6% 0.6%   All Other 652 674 732 58 8.6% 0.5%   ______ ______ ______ ______   ______ Total R&D 136,086 141,159 143,019 1,859 1.3% 100.0%                             Source: AAAS estimates based on data from OMB and agency budget justifications.     Classifications generally follow the government's budget function categories     except health (which here includes health R&D in HHS and VA).       All figures are rounded to the nearest million. Changes calculated from unrounded figures.                 1/ Includes DOD, defense R&D in DOE, and defense-related R&D in Dept. of Homeland Security.   2/  Includes all R&D not in defense.           3/  Includes natural resources R&D.           4/  Includes most nondefense homeland security programs in DHS.       * FY 2007 figures reflect AAAS estimates of final 2007 appropriations (P.L. 110-5).   April 17, 2007 - revised               .