AAAS R&D Funding Update July 19, 2001-

Senate Boosts USDA Earmarked Research,
Blocks Funds for Competitive Grants

Go to: Table. FY 2002 USDA R&D in Senate Appropriations PDF version of this document Related documents: "House Adds Funds for Intramural and Earmarked Research, Blocks Funds for Competitive Grants," AAAS R&D Funding Update June 29 (House appropriations for USDA R&D) AAAS Report XXVI: Research and Development FY 2002 (President's Request for FY 2002) Chapter 11: R&D in the Department of Agriculture -Mortimer Neufville and Elizabeth Allred, NASULGC

(This analysis is part of a series of AAAS R&D Funding Updates on the FY 2002 congressional appropriations process. This analysis includes information on Senate appropriations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The complete series of AAAS R&D Funding Updates, including continually updated analyses of R&D by agency in FY 2002 appropriations, is available on the AAAS R&D Web Site (http://www.aaas.org/spp/R&D) in the "FY 2002 R&D" or the "What's New" sections.) This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its version of the FY 2002 Agriculture appropriations bill (S. 1191), which provides funding for most of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The full House gave approval to its own version of the bill on July 11. The Senate bill would provide $2.0 billion for USDA R&D, an increase of $68 million or 3.5 percent over FY 2001 that would contrast with the modest cut proposed by the House and the 8.0 percent cut proposed by the Bush Administration (see Table). The Senate would join the House in blocking funds for two mandatory competitive research grants programs, and would instead dramatically boost funding for congressionally designated geographically specific projects in both USDA's intramural and extramural programs. The President's request for USDA R&D of $1.8 billion, 8.0 percent less than FY 2001 funding levels, called for steep cuts in congressionally designated research projects, mostly for extramural research grants. (For full details of the President's request for USDA R&D and full information on USDA R&D programs, see Chapter 11 of AAAS Report XXVI: R&D FY 2002.) Earlier this month, the House voted to add on more than $100 million in congressionally designated research projects, bringing the House total for USDA R&D to $1.9 billion, just shy of the FY 2001 funding level (for details of House appropriations for USDA R&D, please see the June 29 AAAS R&D Funding Update). In a reprise of a perennial fight, both the House and Senate bills would block two mandatory (non-appropriated) grants programs from spending their funds. The Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems (IFAFS) was created in June 1998 as a mandatory program to spend $120 million a year for five years on competitively awarded grants for agricultural research and extension, to be administered by USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES). The Appropriations Committees were upset that this program, created by the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, would take spending decisions on agricultural research out of their jurisdictions, so they have periodically tried to block USDA from spending these funds. In addition, blocking these funds would be a cost-saving measure to help keep the federal budget in surplus. Although funding for IFAFS was eventually released in FY 2000 and FY 2001, the House and Senate bills would block FY 2002 funds, of which $64 million would go toward R&D. Similarly, the Fund for Rural America in the Office of the Secretary was reauthorized two years ago for five years, but Congress has also tried periodically to block these funds for competitively awarded research and extension grants on rural topics. The House and Senate bills would block funds for this program, resulting in a cut of $8 million from planned R&D spending in FY 2002. Other competitively awarded research grants would fare better in the Senate bill. CSREES also administers appropriated research grants programs. The National Research Initiative (NRI), the existing competitive research grants program which IFAFS was designed to supplement, would receive $137 million, up nearly a third (or $31 million) from the FY 2001 level but far short of the amount needed to make up for the loss of IFAFS funds. The House and the USDA request proposed to keep NRI funding at the FY 2001 level. But the big winner in the Senate bill would be the Special Research Grants, which would receive $84 million, slightly less than FY 2001 but $81 million more than the request. These funds would go to 145 itemized projects, all but three of which are for congressionally designated geographically specific projects. The House would award $82 million to a partially overlapping list of 139 itemized projects. The Senate bill also contains another $17 million for congressionally designated R&D projects in other parts of the CSREES budget. Total CSREES R&D, which includes IFAFS spending, would be $533 million, down $61 million or 10.3 percent from FY 2001. This amount would be $64 million more than the request because the addition of Special Research Grants, other earmarked funds, and a boost in the NRI program would more offset the loss of IFAFS funds. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) R&D would total $1.1 billion in FY 2002 in the Senate bill, a substantial increase of 11.5 percent or $116 million, $158 million more than the request. ARS funds intramural research through a nationwide network of intramural laboratories and agricultural experiment stations. The Senate bill would provide a 9.6 percent or $90 million increase for ARS research programs to $1.0 billion, but the entire increase and then some would go to specific funding levels for congressionally designated performer-specific research projects. Similarly, the Senate bill would provide $100 million for the ARS Buildings and Facilities and account, a boost of $69 million over the request, but $80 million of the appropriation would go to specific facilities projects not requested by USDA. The largest designation would be $40 million for construction and modernization of ARS facilities in Ames, Iowa, devoted to animal research, a designation also included in the House bill. The Forest Service (FS) is funded through the Interior bill, which has already cleared the full Senate. The Forest Service funds an extensive program of forest and rangeland research, mostly in FS laboratories, as well as programs in fire science. FY 2002 Forest Service R&D would total $259 million in the Senate Interior bill, an increase of $14 million or 5.7 percent over FY 2001. The Senate will finish debate on the Agriculture bill the week of July 23; although there may be controversies over non-R&D amendments, the bill is expected to win Senate approval. The bill then heads to House-Senate conference. There is a slim chance the final version of the bill may be ready before the congressional August recess. It now seems likely that the final version of the bill will block funds for the IFAFS and Fund for Rural America grants, while adding hundreds of millions to the President's request for congressionally earmarked projects. - July 19, 2001 AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program American Association for the Advancement of Science 1200 New York Ave, NW Washington, DC 20005 (202) 326-6607 science_policy@aaas.org http://www.aaas.org/spp/R&D

Table. U.S. Department of Agriculture
Senate Appropriations Committee Action on R&D in the FY 2002 Budget
(budget authority in millions of dollars)

AAAS estimates based on FY 2002 appropriations bills. Includes conduct of R&D and R&D facilities.
FY 2001 and FY 2002 request figures based on OMB R&D data and supplemental agency budget data.
Figures are rounded to the nearest million. Changes calculated from unrounded figures.
1 Includes spending from trust funds.
2 Includes repair and maintenance funded through the Programs account.
3 Mandatory (non-appropriated) program of competitive grants for agricultural research. Public Law 105-185 created a $120 million mandatory program of competitive grants for agricultural research from FY 1999 to FY 2003. Table shows R&D portions of the IFAFS program. The FY 2002 House and Senate Agriculture bills would block FY 2002 spending.
4 Mandatory spending from the Fund for Rural America. R&D portion only. The FY 2002 House and Senate Agriculture bills would block FY 2002 spending.
FY 2001 ARS and CSREES figures include mandatory R&D funds appropriated in Public Law 106-224.
July 19, 2001 - Senate Appropriations Committee-approved figures.
These appropriations may be amended or rejected on the Senate floor. House figures reflect House-approved appropriations.