(This analysis is a preview of the forthcoming AAAS
Report XXXI: Research and Development FY 2007, a comprehensive look at
the President's budget for R&D in FY 2007. This analysis contains revised
estimates of federal R&D, different from figures originally presented in the
President's budget and the February 8 Preliminary Analysis.
More tables and continually updated supplemental materials on R&D in the FY
2007 budget can be found on the AAAS R&D Web site at www.aaas.org/spp/rd).
On
February 6, President Bush released his proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2007.
The new budget proposes substantial increases for key physical sciences and engineering
programs as part of an American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), first previewed
in the State of the Union address as a response to a growing wave of concern about
the state of U.S. innovation. The three favored agencies of the
National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science,
and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratories in
Commerce would receive substantial budget increases after years of flat or declining
funding.
The
overall federal investment in research and development (R&D) would increase
to nearly $137 billion in 2007, but in a repeat of past budgets the continuing
Administration priorities of weapons development and space vehicles development
would take up the entire increase and more. As result, funding for the remainder
of the R&D portfolio would fall, even after the ACI increases are taken into
account.
The
federal investment in basic and applied research (excluding development and R&D
facilities) would decline 3.3 percent to $54.8 billion, meaning increases for
some physical sciences and related research programs would be more than offset
by cuts in other agencies’ research. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget
would be flat for the second year in a row and would fund less than 1 out of every
5 grant applications; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),
despite being a major sponsor of physical sciences research, would see its research
funding fall sharply to offset a big increase in development of new space vehicles.
The
large proposed increases for selected physical sciences and engineering research
programs are not enough to keep the federal investment in basic and applied research
(excluding development) from declining for the third year in a row after peaking
in 2004. Looking to the future, the Bush Administration’s 5-year budget plans
show that in the push to reduce budget deficits primarily through cuts in discretionary
spending, all R&D funding agencies except NASA, NSF, NIST, and DOE Science
would see their budgets decline in real terms over the next five years.
R&D in the FY 2007 Budget: Cuts for Most Areas, Gains for Weapons, Space Vehicles, and the Physical
Sciences
On
February 6, President Bush released his proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2007
and offered the same themes as in previous years: big increases for defense and
homeland security, trims in some entitlement programs, proposed extensions of
expiring tax cuts, and a promise to reduce the budget deficit by cutting domestic
discretionary spending. But the President also announced a major initiative in
his State of the Union address to boost federal investments in physical sciences
research. The FY 2007 budget follows through with large increases for key physical
sciences funding agencies, but otherwise the budget request is similar to past
requests: federal R&D would increase slightly less than projected inflation,
the entire increase and more would go toward the development of new weapons and
new space vehicles, and increases in the remainder of the federal R&D portfolio
would be offset by cuts in other areas. The large increases for the DOE Office
of Science, NSF, and the NIST laboratories in the American Competitiveness Initiative
and the increases for NASA development enable nondefense R&D to increase 1.6 percent, in contrast to
the 0.5 percent requested cut for all domestic programs in the FY 2007 budget.
But within a declining domestic budget, there would be stark contrasts between
priority programs and everything else: the above priorities would receive large
increases, while everything else in the federal R&D portfolio would face steep
cuts (see Figure 1), with only biomedical research flat in the middle. (All figures
in this release have been revised since the February release of the budget and
the February 8 AAAS Preliminary Analysis.)
Figure 1. (click
on the image for PDF)
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The proposed federal R&D portfolio in FY 2007 is $136.9 billion, 1.8
percent or $2.4 billion above this year’s funding level, short of the 2.2
percent increase needed to keep pace with expected inflation (see Table
1 and Figure 2). In real terms, the total federal R&D portfolio would
decline for the first time since 1996 after flattening out the last few years.
Development would be the clear winner: increases for weapons development in the
Department of Defense (DOD; up $4.2 billion) and space vehicles development in
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA; up $907 million) would
be far greater than the overall $2.4 billion increase, leaving all other R&D
programs collectively with less money. Development funding would hit a new high
of $77.9 billion (up 6.0 percent). Total
federal support of research (basic and applied) would fall 3.3 percent to
$54.8 billion, even with large proposed increases for physical sciences and related
research in NSF, DOE’s Office of Science, and NIST (see
Table 2 and Figure 2). In real terms, the federal
research portfolio would fall nearly 6 percent.
-
The nondefense R&D investment would increase
1.6 percent to $58.5 billion, far better than the 0.5 percent cut requested for
all nondefense discretionary programs (see Table
1 and Figure 4). Boosts for physical sciences research and space vehicles
development help to offset cuts in other programs, but even increases in these
areas are not enough to keep the nondefense portfolio
from falling behind expected inflation. Four nondefense
R&D agencies would do well in the 2007 budget request (see Figure 1): there
would be significant increases for R&D in DOE’s
Office of Science (up 14 percent to $3.8 billion), NIST intramural research (up
21 percent to $382 million), and NSF (up 8.3 percent to $4.5 billion) because
of the American Competitiveness Initiative; and a 8.0 percent increase to $12.2
billion for NASA R&D to develop a Crew Exploration Vehicle and Crew Launch
Vehicle.
- But
other nondefense R&D agencies not linked to the high priority
areas would see flat funding or steep cuts (see Figure 1). The NIH budget,
after declining slightly in 2006 for the first time in 36 years, would remain
flat at $28.6 billion. All but three NIH institutes and centers would see their
budgets fall for the second year in a row. Other R&D agencies would face steep
cuts: the Environmental Protection Agency’s (R&D) portfolio would fall 7.1
percent to $557 million, while Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) would see its R&D funding decline 6.3 percent to $578 million. R&D
funding in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA; down 16.5 percent) would also fall. Even the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS), a past favorite, would see its R&D fall 10.3 percent to $1.1 billion.
And despite proposed increases for some alternative energy R&D investments,
steep cuts or outright program terminations in energy conservation, fossil energy,
and some renewable technologies would leave DOE energy R&D down 4.8 percent
to $1.3 billion.
Figure 2. (click
on the image for PDF)
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There would be tough budgetary choices even in agencies with increasing
budgets. At NASA, a $907 million boost in R&D funding to $12.2 billion
would be far less than the $1.3 billion boost to $3.1 billion for the Constellation
Systems program to develop the next generation of human space vehicle to replace
the Space Shuttle. Among the casualties of the shift in resources are NASA’s aeronautics
research program, falling 18 percent to $724 million, and what remains of its
life sciences program, proposed for a 56 percent cut after a 30 percent cut in
2006. Other NASA research programs would also decline. R&D at the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratories would climb, but the
budget proposes to eliminate NIST’s external Advanced Technology Program (ATP). While NSF’s
research directorates would do well, its Education and Human Resources directorate
would barely increase, to a level 20 percent below the 2004 budget in real terms.
Substantial increases for DOD development would be offset by steep cuts in DOD
research.
-
Defense R&D continues to do relatively well, in a budget that sustains overall
defense spending at record funding levels. Total defense R&D would increase
1.9 percent to $78.4 billion, falling just short of matching inflation for the
first time since 1996 (see Table 1). Department of
Defense (DOD) weapons systems development would increase dramatically by 7 percent
to a new high of $62.9 billion (see Figure 1), but once again there would be steep
cuts in DOD’s S&T (DOD “6.1” through “6.3” plus medical research) programs.
DOD S&T would plummet 18.6 percent down to $11.2 billion, with cuts in all
three categories of basic research, applied research, and technology development.
-
The total federal research investment (basic and applied research, excluding
development and facilities funding) would total $54.8 billion in 2007, down 3.3
percent from the current year (see Table 2
and Figure 2). Although NSF (up 7.1 percent), DOE’s Office of Science (up 12.3 percent), and NIST (up 11
percent) would do very well for their research portfolios in the 2007 budget because
of the ACI emphasis on the physical sciences, there would be steep cuts in other
agencies, even in agencies such as DOD and NASA that are major supporters of physical
sciences research. Some of the cuts would be from agencies shifting funds out
of research and into development, such as DOD (research down 16 percent), the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS, down 19.8 percent), and NASA (down 16.5
percent). Other cuts would result from the proposed elimination of research earmarks,
such as USDA (down 13 percent), EPA (7 percent), DOD, and NOAA (down 2.4 percent).
NIH, the largest federal sponsor of research, would see its research remain flat
at $27.7 billion, a 2.2 percent loss after inflation.
-
The Administration priorities of defense development, space exploration, and
basic physical sciences research would all receive large increases,
while R&D for other national missions would fall sharply (see Table
3). Space-related R&D would gain 10.7 percent to $11.5 billion, though
entirely from gains in development of new space craft instead of the broader space
R&D portfolio. Boosts to DOE Science and NSF R&D make up the 11.0 percent
gain for general science R&D to $8.3 billion. Defense R&D continues to
be a high priority with a 1.9 percent boost to $78.4 billion. But R&D for
other national missions including agriculture (down 19 percent), transportation
(down 16 percent), and the environment (down 7 percent) would all fall in a tight
domestic budget. Despite increases for some alternative energy R&D programs,
cuts in energy conservation, fossil fuels, and some renewables would result in a 4 percent cut for energy R&D
to $1.4 billion. Even health R&D would fall for the second year in a row down
to $29.8 billion after decades of steady gains, as would justice R&D (down
11.5 percent) after steady gains for the DHS R&D portfolio over the previous
four years.
-
Federal homeland security-related R&D would total $5.1 billion in
FY 2007, a small loss of $29 million or 0.6 percent that would be the first
cut in a portfolio that has expanded dramatically in the aftermath of the 2001
terrorist attacks (see Table 4; the totals are
significantly higher than in previous years because DOD recently expanded its
reporting of homeland security-related spending). The majority of the multi-agency
portfolio would remain outside the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with
the largest part in the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH’s
portfolio, mostly in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
(NIAID), would total $2.0 billion in FY 2006, up 6.1 percent despite a flat overall
NIH budget. The DHS R&D portfolio would fall for the first time with a 10.3
percent proposed cut to $1.1 billion.
- Although the Bush Administration projects that NASA and the three ACI
agencies would continue to receive increases in future years, the same projections
show that all other R&D funding agencies would sacrifice heavily over the
next five years. In the AAAS analysis
of the outyear budget projections, federal R&D would
grow to $141.9 billion by 2011, an increase in current dollars but a 5.1 percent
cut from this year after adjusting for expected inflation (see Table
5). [There is money set aside for NSF, DOE’s Office
of Science, and NIST to win substantial gains every year through 2011 to stay
on course for a 10-year doubling path. But there are projected real cuts for every
other R&D funding agency (see Figure 3).] The NIH budget would decline every
year to 2010 before rebounding slightly in 2011; NIH R&D would fall 12.1 percent
in real terms between 2006 and 2011. DOD R&D would fall 11.6 percent below
the current budget after inflation by 2011. Most nondefense R&D agencies are projected to see their R&D
budgets fall by between 10 and 30 percent over the next five years. Although NASA
R&D is projected to gain 42 percent in real terms, the gains would go to a
dramatic ramp-up of Constellation Systems from $1.7 billion this year to $7.7
billion in 2011, and a 21 percent real boost for finishing the Space Station,
leaving NASA Science down 5.0 percent and all other NASA R&D down 24 percent.
(The full AAAS Analysis of the Outyear
Projections for R&D in the FY 2007 Budget is available on the AAAS
R&D web site.)
Figure 3. (click
on the image for PDF)
- In the congressional appropriations
process, the federal R&D investment is contained in 10 of the 11 appropriations
bills (see Table
6). The large proposed increases for NSF, NASA, and NIST will have to find
room in the new Science, State, Justice, and Commerce appropriations bill, while
DOD development increases would be funded in the Defense bill. The flat NIH budget
would be funded in the always-contentious Labor/HHS/Education bill, which contains
many health and education programs that are proposed for steep cuts or even elimination
in the FY 2007 request.
- The federal government continues to invest billions of dollars in multi-agency
R&D initiatives that cut across agency missions (see Table
7). After an increase in 2006, funding for the National Nanotechnology Initiative would fall 1.8 percent to $1.3 billion, primarily because DOD would remove
earmarked 2006 nanotechnology projects from its 2007 request. Funding for the
Networking and Information Technology
R&D initiative would surge 7.7 percent to $3.1 billion because the American
Competitiveness Initiative encompasses increasing support for computer sciences
and other IT research. The three ACI agencies of NIST, NSF, and DOE Office of
Science, all large contributors to the initiative, would all boost their funding
for IT research. Climate
Change Science Program (CCSP) funding would barely increase by 0.2 percent
to $1.7 billion, after a steep cut in 2006 due to falling NASA funding for space-based
observations of the environment.
The FY 2007 R&D Budget in Historical Context: Another
Year of Decline
Figure 4. (click
on the image for PDF)
Although
high-priority investments in weapons development, human space exploration, and
now physical sciences research help to keep the federal R&D outlook brighter
than the bleak outlook for domestic programs overall, the FY 2007 budget would
keep federal R&D on a downward slope from the highs of a few years ago. Even
though some agencies and disciplines would do well in 2007, for trend after trend
there were big increases leading up to 2003 or 2004 followed by real cuts that
would continue into next year.
Nondefense R&D peaked in FY 2004 and is now
headed down, but for most programs funding has been stagnant for nearly two decades.
Nondefense R&D did very well between 1998 and 2003
because of the campaign to double the NIH budget, as shown in Figure 4. The creation
of the DHS also helped to boost nondefense R&D investments
by creating a new area for investment. But all the other nondefense R&D funding agencies collectively have seen
their budgets remain flat for nearly two decades (see the red bars in Figure 4),
even as the U.S. economy, the federal budget, and the U.S. population have all boomed during that time. The
2007 proposed increases for NASA, DOE Office of Science, NSF, and NIST would begin
to recover the lost ground of the past few years. These non-NIH agencies, combined
with DOD’s research investments (also flat or declining in recent years), fund
nearly all of the federal investment in non-biomedical research, including the
physical sciences, non-medical life sciences, environmental sciences, engineering,
mathematics, computer sciences, and social sciences. Federal support of biomedical
research was on a growth path until 2003, especially during the NIH doubling campaign,
but in recent years growth has leveled off and federal support has begun to decline
in real terms.
The federal research investment would continue to decline
in the 2007 budget, even for the physical sciences. Federal support of research
(excluding development) peaked in 2004 (see Figure 5), driven primarily by big
boosts to NIH research. But the research portfolio declines in 2005 and 2006,
and would fall even further in 2007 as steep cuts in NASA, DOD, and other agencies’
research, and inflation-adjusted cuts for NIH research more than offset proposed
gains in NSF and DOE research. Even physical sciences research funding could decline,
as research cuts in three major sponsors of the physical sciences (DOD, NASA,
and NIH) offset increases in NSF, DOE, and NIST. The 2007 budget would leave the
federal research portfolio 8 percent below the 2004 level in inflation-adjusted
dollars.
Figure 5. (click
on the image for PDF)
Federal research investments are shrinking as
a share of the U.S. economy, just as other nations are increasing their investments.
The federal R&D investment has exceeded 1 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) in recent years, buoyed by big increases in weapons development, but is
projected to decline sharply in 2006 and 2007. Federal investments in development
have held steady as a share of the economy, but the federal research/GDP ratio
is in free fall down to a projected 0.40 percent in 2007, back down to the long-term
historical average after gains during the NIH doubling period. Despite an increasingly
technology-based economy and a growing recognition among policymakers that federal
research investments are the seed corn for future technology-based innovations,
the U.S. government
research investment has failed to match the new realities and has also failed
to match the competition. Asian nations are dramatically increasing their government
research investments: both China and South Korea, for example, are boosting government
research by 10 percent or more annually.
Highlights of the Major R&D Funding Agencies
(Please
see the detailed agency updates on the AAAS
R&D web site and the forthcoming AAAS Report XXXI: R&D FY 2007 for more
information on R&D in the agencies below.)
-
After falling for the first time since 1970 in 2006, the 2007 request would keep
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget
exactly even at $28.6 billion. All but three of NIH’s institutes and centers (IC’s) would see their budgets
shrink for the second year in a row. Most IC budgets would fall 0.5 and 0.8 percent
in 2007, after similar cuts in 2006. NIH R&D funding, 97 percent of the total
budget, would barely increase by $5 million to $27.8 billion (see Table
1). Only the Office of the Director (OD) would receive a large increase (up
26.6 percent to $668 million) because of increases for the two NIH priorities
of biodefense R&D and the NIH Roadmap for Biomedical
Research. Biodefense R&D would total $1.9 billion,
an increase of $110 million or 6.2 percent going entirely to OD to develop biodefense
countermeasures. Roadmap funding would increase by $113 million or 34.4 percent
to $443 million. After adjusting for economy-wide inflation, NIH R&D would
decline for the third year in a row, down 5.4 percent in 2007 from the 2004 peak
(see Figure 6). But NIH’s own calculations of biomedical inflation are running
higher; the NIH budget would fall 11 percent from 2004 to 2007 based on these
calculations. NIH projects it will fund only 19 percent of all Research Project
Grants (RPGs) applications in 2006 and 2007. In 2007,
the number of RPG’s would fall for the third year in a row to 35,805 (7 percent
fewer than the peak). R&D in the other Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) agencies combined would fall 4.1 percent to $1.3 billion. All HHS agencies
would have flat or declining funding.
Figure 6. (click
on the image for PDF)
-
The National Science Foundation (NSF) benefits from the American Competitiveness Initiative to boost physical
sciences research with a 7.9 percent boost for its budget to $6.0 billion in 2007.
The increase would benefit all disciplines in NSF’s research portfolio. Most research
directorates would receive increases between 5 percent and 9 percent after several
years of flat or declining funding. All the research directorates would increase
average award sizes, numbers of research grants, and success rates for grant applications.
NSF’s R&D investments would total $4.5 billion, an 8.3 percent increase that
would reverse the cuts of the past two years (see Figure 6) to narrowly reach
an all-time high in real terms. The Major Research Equipment and Facilities
Construction account would enjoy a sizeable increase, going from $191 million
to $240 million because of new starts, but the Education and Human Resources directorate
budget would barely increase and remain 20 percent [below] the 2004 funding level
in real terms.
- R&D in the Department of Defense
(DOD) would continue to reach new highs in 2007 with
a $1.6 billion or 2.2 percent increase to $74.1 billion, just matching expected
inflation. The entire increase and more would go to weapons development (up 7
percent or $4.2 billion to $62.9 billion), leaving funding for research and technology
development in steep decline. As in previous years, DOD would slash “S&T”
investments by 18.6 percent or $2.6 billion to $11.2 billion (see Figure 6). S&T,
which includes basic research, applied research, medical research, and technology
development, would fall to 2.55 percent of the regular DOD budget. Despite being
a major sponsor of physical sciences research, DOD’s support of basic and
applied research would fall in 2007, primarily but not entirely from the proposed
elimination of 2006 earmarks. While the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) would see its budget climb 10.6 percent to $3.3 billion, most other research-oriented
programs would suffer steep cuts.
-
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
continues to be an Administration priority because
of the President’s Vision for Space Exploration, but like other agencies
NASA is being asked to do more with less. The total NASA budget of $16.8 billion
in 2007 would be just 1.0 percent more than in 2006, but NASA expects considerable
savings in the non-R&D Space Shuttle program after NASA returns the Shuttle
to flight this spring and finishes repairing hurricane-damaged Shuttle facilities.
The Shuttle savings would help boost NASA R&D by $907 million or 8.0 percent
to $12.2 billion (see Table 1). But an acceleration
of NASA efforts to develop human space vehicles to replace the Space Shuttle by
2014 would eat up the entire increase and more, leaving all other NASA R&D
with cuts. Constellation Systems to develop the new Crew Exploration Vehicle and
the Crew Launch Vehicle ballooned from just $422 million last year to $1.7 billion
in 2006 and would nearly double to $3.1 billion next year. The heavy emphasis
on development of space vehicles over NASA’s support of basic and applied research
would lead to a 16.5 percent cut in NASA research to $3.3 billion after a cut
in 2006. Although NASA would mostly protect the Science program of earth-sun science,
earth observing, astronomy, and robotic missions from cuts, aeronautics research
would plummet 18 percent and the remnants of the life and physical sciences effort
would tumble 56 percent to $275 million. There would also be steep cuts in other
NASA investments such as new propulsion technologies, and the postponement or
termination of many planned missions.
-
The Department of Energy (DOE) would enjoy substantial
increases for its science portfolio in 2007 because of the Office of Science’s
(OS) leading role in the American Competitiveness Initiative. Office of Science
R&D would emerge as the clear winner in the 2007 budget with a 14.4 percent
increase to $3.8 billion for its portfolio centered on the physical sciences (see
Figure 6). After several years of flat or declining budgets, funding for every
OS program would increase substantially, including a dramatic 24 percent boost
for Nuclear Physics, a 36 percent increase for computing research, a 25 percent
increase for Basic Energy Sciences centered on several large-scale facilities,
and a 31 percent increase for the core life sciences research portfolio. Although
President Bush outlined large increases for some alternative energy R&D programs
as part of an Advanced Energy Initiative in his State of the Union address, DOE
energy R&D would fall 4.8 percent to $1.3 billion. Substantial increases for
R&D on hydrogen, fuel cells, biomass, and solar technologies would be more
than offset by steep cuts and even program terminations in other areas such as
fossil fuels, energy conservation, and geothermal. Many of the increases are related
to a $288 million Hydrogen Fuel Initiative (up from $235 million) to develop hydrogen-powered
cars. Total DOE R&D, including defense programs, would rise 3.7 percent to
$9.0 billion (see Table 1).
-
After several years of large increases, the Department
of Homeland Security’s (DHS) R&D funding would fall for the first
time in 2007, by 10.3 percent down to $1.1 billion. While R&D on radiological
and nuclear countermeasures would surge 61 percent to $328 million within the
new Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, funding for nearly all other DHS R&D
areas would decline. Because of an emphasis on development over research, basic
and applied research in DHS would fall 20 percent in 2007. University and Fellowship
Programs funding would fall $10 million down to $52 million after a similar cut
this year.
-
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) R&D portfolio would fall 16.5 percent
down to $2.0 billion, mostly from the proposed elimination of 2006 earmarks in
the 2007 budget (see Figure 6). Despite a falling budget, the National Research
Initiative (NRI) of competitively awarded research grants would increase $67 million
to a record $248 million. USDA would also shift some formula funding to competitive
grants; Hatch Act funding would remain at $177 million, but a growing share of
program funding would go to competitive grants. The completion of an animal health
laboratory and the elimination of earmarked projects would allow intramural facilities
funding to plummet 94 percent to $8 million; intramural research at USDA labs
would fall 11.5 percent to $1.0 billion, mostly from the elimination of 2006 earmarks.
-
Intramural research at the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) would be favored with substantial increases in 2007
as part of the American Competitiveness Initiative. NIST’s
intramural research would increase 21.3 percent to $382 million, while intramural
R&D construction would also climb. But once again, the budget proposes to
eliminate NIST’s extramural Advanced Technology Program
(ATP). The budget would also cut the non-R&D Hollings Manufacturing Extension
Partnership in half to $46 million. National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) R&D would fall by 6.3 percent
to $578 million, mostly from the elimination of 2006 earmarks. NOAA and ATP cuts
would offset gains at the NIST labs, leaving total Department
of Commerce R&D down 0.9 percent to $1.1
billion.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
would maintain a flat R&D budget of $765 million in FY 2007, but planned
funding from other sources would bring total VA-performed R&D to $1.6 billion.
-
R&D in the Department of the Interior’s
lead science agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), would fall
$27 million or 4.7 percent to $532 million in FY 2007. As in previous requests,
the cuts would be concentrated in USGS’ mineral resources and water resources
R&D.
-
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) R&D
portfolio of $557 million would be a 7.1 percent cut after a similar cut in 2006.
Although most of the reduction would come from the proposed elimination of 2006
earmarks, funding for most EPA research areas would decline, except for homeland
security R&D.
- After a dramatic increase
to an all-time high in 2006 because of last summer’s highway bill, the Department of Transportation’s
(DOT) R&D funding would fall 8.5 percent or $71
million to $767 million. Highway R&D would continue to increase, by
4.6 percent to $397 million, but aviation R&D would fall steeply by 24 percent
to $235 million after a large congressional increase in 2006.
Budget
Context and Outlook
The
President’s FY 2007 budget is now working its way through Congress. As members
of Congress gear up to write a budget resolution setting the framework for this
year’s budget debate and then writing the appropriations bills to fill in the
details for discretionary programs, they will also be considering a burgeoning
number of innovation-related bills that all attempt to address growing concerns
about the state of U.S.
innovation. These bills take numerous approaches, from revamping science and math
education to establishing new incentives for students to authorizing increasing
funding for basic research. As a result, President Bush’s proposals to increase
physical sciences and related research funding have found a receptive audience
on Capitol Hill. But members of Congress have also faced and even instigated pressure
to boost funding for biomedical and other research funding, restore funding to
proposed R&D cuts, and add funding to domestic programs proposed for consolidation
or elimination, all while keeping the budget deficit in check and keeping dollars
flowing to the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just as in past years, there
are many months and many obstacles ahead before the FY 2007 budget becomes law,
and no guarantee that any of the proposed increases or cuts will make it into
the final budget.
-
March 8, 2006 (revisions March 20 in [ ] )
(More
materials on R&D in the FY 2007 budget, historical data and charts, and more
information on AAAS Report XXXI: Research and Development
FY 2007, can be found on the AAAS
R&D Web site at www.aaas.org/spp/rd.)
