(This report is a summary of AAAS estimates and analyses
of federal R&D appropriations so far in the FY 2007 appropriations process.
It focuses on House-approved appropriations bills.)
In
budget actions through the end of June, Congress has so far endorsed the large
proposed increases for select physical sciences funding agencies in the President’s
American Competitiveness Initiative, and has continued to support Administration
plans to dramatically expand development investments for new spacecraft and weapons
technologies. But although the House would add billions of dollars to proposed
cuts in some basic and applied research programs, the federal investment in basic
and applied research would still decline in FY 2007. Because the House has chosen
the same restrictive appropriations targets as the President’s budget, the House
would keep the NIH budget declining for the second year in a row, would slash
homeland security R&D funding for the first time, and would make steep cuts
in parts of the environmental and other federal research portfolios.
Highlights So Far of Federal R&D in FY 2007 Appropriations
Figure 1. (click on image for PDF)
Before a week-long Fourth of July recess, the House of Representatives made
significant progress on FY 2007 appropriations. The House Appropriations Committee
drafted all 11 of its FY 2007 appropriations bills, and the full House approved
10 of them, thus providing the House response to the President’s FY 2007 February
budget request for appropriated (discretionary) programs. The Senate Appropriations
Committee started its work by drafting 6 of its versions of the 11 bills before
the July recess, although none made it to the Senate floor. Despite agreeing to
the same tight budget constraints of $873 billion for FY 2007 appropriations,
implying a cut for domestic programs and relatively modest increases for defense
and international programs, the House managed to improve significantly on key
parts of the Administration’s R&D request and endorsed proposed large increases
for the physical sciences, space, and defense.
- In an early sign of congressional support for the President’s American
Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), the House appropriations bills would fully fund
requested increases for three key physical sciences agencies. The National Science Foundation (NSF; up 8.3 percent to $4.5 billion),
the Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DOE OS; up 15.3 percent to $3.8
billion), and Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratories
(NIST; up 20 percent to $377 million) would all receive the full requested increases
for their R&D programs (see Table 1 and Figure
1).
- The House would also fully support the Administration’s other R&D
priorities in the development of new spacecraft and new weapons. The National
Aeronautics and Space Administration’s R&D funding would climb $858 million
or 7.6 percent to $12.2 billion; all of the increase and more would go to development
efforts for the next generation of human space vehicles, leaving NASA research
funding in steep decline. Department of Defense (DOD) R&D would increase $3.0
billion to a new record of $76.2 billion; while the House would keep DOD research
funding flat, weapons development would increase substantially.
Figure 2. (click on image for PDF)
- The House would moderate steep requested cuts in many R&D programs,
turning some cuts into increases. The House would add $2.5 billion to the Pentagon
request for DOD’s “S&T” programs in research and early technology development,
turning a 19 percent requested cut to nearly flat funding at $13.7 billion. House
appropriators would also turn steep requested cuts into more modest declines for
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (down 5.6 percent to $2.3 billion) and the
Department of Transportation (down 3.7 percent to $807 million). And requested
cuts would become increases for energy R&D in DOE (up 7.7 percent to $1.4
billion), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS; up 1.7 percent to $568 million), and
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; up 1.3 percent to $608 million; see
Figure 1).
- But because the House has decided to work with the same overall total
for discretionary appropriations as the President’s budget, appropriators have
so far confirmed requested cuts for some programs or would cut even deeper than
requested. In the latest House appropriation, the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) budget would decline for the second year in a row to $28.5 billion; all
but three of NIH’s institutes and centers (IC’s) would
see their budgets shrink for the second year in a row. In order to
meet other homeland security needs, the House would further slash Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) R&D spending below the request for a total of only
$974 million, 24 percent below the current year. Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) would receive only $509 million for R&D, 18 percent
below the current year (see Figure 1).
- The federal investment in research and development (R&D) would hit another
record of $139.4 billion in FY 2007 House appropriations, a $4.1 billion or
3.1 percent increase over 2006 (see Table 1 and Figure
2). The entire increase and more would go to development in DOD for weapons and
NASA for new space craft, leaving the federal investment in basic and applied
research and R&D facilities in decline. Development funding would climb, for
the seventh year in a row, by $4.6 billion to $78.8 billion, while research funding
would fall 0.8 percent to $56.2 billion and R&D facilities funding would fall
0.8 percent to $4.3 billion (see Figure 2). Looked at by agency, 93 percent of
the $4.2 billion increase would go to DOD and NASA. Funding for all other R&D
programs collectively would barely increase, and would fall nearly 2 percent after
adjusting for inflation. The House total is $2.5 billion higher than the President’s
February budget request, almost entirely because of House additions to the DOD
request.
- Defense R&D would exceed $80 billion for the first time to reach $80.6
billion in the House appropriation (see Table 3)
to make up nearly 58 percent of the total federal R&D portfolio. Nondefense
R&D would also increase, by 2.0 percent to $58.8 billion, but almost entirely
because of increases for NASA’s spacecraft development. While space-related R&D
would gain nearly $1 billion or 8.8 percent (to $11.3 billion), nondefense R&D excluding space would barely gain despite
big increases for the three agencies included in the American Competitiveness
Initiative, because of cuts in other parts of the portfolio (see Table 3). The
ACI boosts make up the large increases for general science R&D (up 11 percent
to $8.4 billion) and commerce R&D (up 5.4 percent), while justice, agriculture,
transportation, health, and natural resources/environment R&D would all decline
in House appropriations.
- Although increases for the three ACI agencies would be substantial,
they would be offset by cuts in other research-oriented agencies to leave the
total federal research portfolio (basic and applied) down half a billion dollars
to $56.2 billion (down $447 million or 0.8 percent; see Table
2 and Figure 3). Large research increases for NSF (up $271 million or 7.2
percent to $4.1 billion), DOE’s Office of Science (up
$400 million or 13.8 percent to $3.3 billion), and NIST (up $52 million or 16.4
percent to $371 million) would be more than offset by cuts in other research funding
agencies. Especially hard hit would be research at NASA, despite being a major
sponsor of physical sciences research (down 14 percent to $3.4 billion), as resources
are shifted to development; DHS (down 33 percent); and NOAA (down 10 percent).
The House would improve on the request by $1.5 billion, but not enough to make
up a nearly $2 billion requested cut in research. The largest improvement on the
request would be for DOD research, up $83 million or 1.2 percent to $7.3 billion,
a $1.2 billion improvement over a 20 percent requested cut.
- So far, the House has shown relative restraint
in R&D earmarks in FY 2007 appropriations. The AAAS analysis of R&D
earmarks in FY 2007 appropriations shows that the House would designate $1.1 billion
for congressionally designated performer-specific R&D projects in FY 2007
(see Table A), roughly half the record-breaking
earmark total in the final FY 2006 budget. This total, however, represents only
House earmarks; Senate earmarks will be mostly different, and if past pattern
holds the final earmark total could be the House total and the Senate total combined
rather than an average of the two. Although earmarking would continue unabated
in agencies such as the Department of Energy (DOE; $116 million), the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA; $306 million), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA;
$30 million), the House chose not to insert earmarked R&D projects into the
NASA and NOAA budgets this year, and in DOE chose to add earmarks on top of the
request rather than cutting the request to make room for earmarks. (For full details
see the forthcoming AAAS R&D Funding Update on R&D
Earmarks in FY 2007 Appropriations, available in mid-July on the AAAS R&D
web site).
Figure 3. (click on the image for PDF)
R&D Appropriations for Key Agencies
Full
information on FY 2007 House and Senate appropriations and program details for
individual agencies is available in AAAS R&D Funding Updates on the AAAS R&D
Web site. This update focuses on House appropriations; Senate appropriations will
be analyzed more fully in the August update. (The on-line version of this document
features links to the updates.)
-
After falling for the first time since 1970 in 2006, the House appropriation would
make another small cut in 2007 for a total National Institutes
of Health (NIH) budget of $28.5 billion. All
but three of NIH’s IC’s would see their budgets shrink
for the second year in a row. In real terms, NIH funding would fall for the third
year in a row (see Figure 4). The Office of the Director (OD) would be a winner
with a $140 million or 26.6 percent increase to $668 million, to fund increases
for the two NIH priorities of biodefense R&D and
the NIH Roadmap for Biomedical Research. But in the rest of NIH, flat to declining
budget trends mean that NIH projects may only fund 1 out of every 5 research projects
grants applications this year and next. In a rare legally binding designation
of funds, the House would mandate $69 million for a National Children’s Study
in 2007 in reaction to NIH’s proposal to eliminate funding.
The House bill would also require NIH-funded researchers to submit electronic
versions of their final published research papers to NIH no later than 12 months
after publication for free access in NIH’s PubMed Central digital archive,
instead of the current optional submission. Although the House has drafted the
Labor-HHS bill funding NIH and other agencies, the full House may not debate and
approve the bill until the fall because of disputes over unrelated issues.
-
The House has endorsed the Administration’s ACI boost for the National
Science Foundation (NSF) budget with a 7.9 percent increase, as requested,
for a total NSF budget of $6.0 billion in 2007 benefiting all disciplines in NSF’s
research portfolio. NSF’s R&D funding would surge 8.3 percent to $4.5 billion
after several years of flat funding to reach an all-time high in real terms (see
Figure 4). Most research directorates would receive increases between 5 and 9
percent after several years of flat or declining funding. All the directorates
would increase average award sizes, numbers of research grants, and success rates
for grant applications.
-R&D in the Department
of Defense (DOD) would reach another
record high in the FY 2007 House appropriation with a $3.0 billion or 4.1 percent
increase to $76.2 billion. Nearly the entire increase would go to weapons development
programs, but DOD support of research would also increase, by 1.2 percent to $7.3
billion in contrast to a 16 percent requested cut. The House would reverse sharp
proposed cuts in “S&T” spending, adding $2.5 billion to turn a nearly 20 percent
requested cut into flat funding of $13.7 billion, keeping S&T funding near
record highs (see Figure 4). Basic research (“6.1”) would climb 6.3 percent to
$1.6 billion, while applied research (“6.2) would increase 1.6 percent to $5.3
billion. The research-oriented Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
would see its budget climb 11.2 percent to $3.3 billion.
Figure 4. (click on the image for PDF)
-
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
successfully returned the Space Shuttle to flight on July 4th, and
after a hoped-for successful return the agency gets back to the next decade’s
ambitious plans for space exploration. In its latest appropriation, the House
would essentially agree to NASA’s request to dramatically boost development funding
for space vehicles development, while flattening or reducing funding for everything
else. The $16.7 billion total NASA FY 2007 appropriation would be essentially
flat with this year. The non-R&D Space Shuttle budget would fall $756 million
to $4.1 billion with the return to flight; the Shuttle savings would help boost
NASA R&D by $858 million or 7.6 percent to $12.2 billion. Although this would
be a large increase, it would merely recover the ground lost to budget cuts over
the last few years (see Figure 4), and the entire increase and more would go to
NASA efforts to develop human space vehicles to carry out the Vision for Space
Exploration of returning to the Moon and going onward to Mars. Although Constellation
Systems funding for space vehicles would nearly double to $3.0 billion, aeronautics
research would fall 7 percent, life and physical sciences research would tumble
56 percent, other NASA research programs would see funding cuts, and Science funding
would rise 3 percent to $5.4 billion but would still remain below last year’s
funding level.
- The House has matched the Administration’s
request for a substantial boost for the Department of
Energy (DOE)’s Office of Science with a 15 percent increase. After several
years of flat or declining budgets (see Figure 4), the House would join DOE in
boosting funding at least 8 percent for every OS program, including a dramatic
24 percent boost for Nuclear Physics, a 36 percent increase for computing research,
a 25 percent increase for Basic Energy Sciences, and a 31 percent increase for
core life sciences research. Although the request would have reduced overall DOE
energy R&D, the House would leave in place requested increases in many renewables
programs and add funds to energy conservation and fossil energy programs, resulting
in a House energy R&D appropriation of $1.4 billion, an 8 percent increase
over this year. The House would also add to the request for DOE’s
defense R&D for a total of $4.1 billion, just $5 million less than the current
year. Total DOE R&D would increase 6.9 percent to $9.3 billion. In July, the
Senate may take up a DOE appropriation with even higher totals. The Senate would
give an 18 percent increase for the Office of Science, and larger increases than
the House for energy R&D for a total DOE R&D portfolio of $9.6 billion
(up 10.0 percent).
-
After several years of dramatic increases, the Department
of Homeland Security’s (DHS) R&D funding would fall for the first
time in the 2007 budget and the House appropriation. In the House, DHS R&D
would plummet 24 percent or $307 million down to $974 million. The original House
appropriation contained a $200 million cut, but the full House approved a further
$107 million cut to shift funding to other homeland security programs. The radiological
and nuclear countermeasures R&D portfolio moves to a new Domestic Nuclear
Detection Office (DNDO) in 2006, and could be the only growth area for DHS R&D
in 2007; the House would boost DNDO R&D from $209 million to $292 million.
Funding for nearly all other DHS R&D activities would decline from previous
years. The Senate has proposed an only slightly higher $1.0 billion R&D appropriation,
an 18 percent cut.
-
The House would reject steep proposed cuts in the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) R&D portfolio by adding nearly $300
million to the request for a total of $2.3 billion (down 5.6 percent from this
year). The $300 million in add-ons to the request are nearly all for congressionally
designated, performer-specific R&D projects which the request would have eliminated.
In order to fund earmarks, the House would trim the requested increase for the
National Research Initiative (NRI) competitive grants program from $248 million
down to $190 million (up 5 percent over 2006). But the House would boost formula
funding for research for the first time this decade. The Senate has drafted an
USDA R&D appropriation also totaling $2.3 billion, with similar priorities
as the House.
- The House endorsed the Administration’s proposed
ACI increase for intramural research at the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) laboratories in the Department of Commerce
budget. NIST’s Scientific and Technical Research Services
(STRS) would see its R&D funding increase 20 percent to $377 million, while
the intramural Construction of Research Facilities (CRF) R&D program would
jump 41 percent to $68 million. But once again, the House would agree to the Administration
proposal to eliminate the extramural Advanced Technology Program (ATP), already
on its last legs at roughly a quarter of historical funding levels. And the House
would dramatically reduce R&D in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) by $108 million or 17.6 percent, with steep cuts to oceans and fisheries
programs. All told, Commerce R&D would fall below $1 billion in the House
plan to $990 million, 8 percent below this year.
-
The House would reverse proposed cuts in the
U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) and instead provide a 1.7 percent increase in
its R&D funding to $568 million. The sharpest reversal would be in the mineral
resources R&D program, which Interior once again proposed to cut in half but
the House would save. The Senate would provide a similar $569 million (up 1.9
percent) for USGS R&D.
- The Environmental Protection
Agency’s (EPA) R&D budget would increase 1.3 percent or
$8 million to $608 million in the House appropriation, a sharp turnaround from
a 7 percent requested cut. Although much of the improvement would come from $30
million in House earmarks, the appropriation would also add funds to clean air,
human health, sustainability, and toxics research. The Senate would give a similar
$596 million R&D appropriation.
- After a dramatic increase to an all-time high in
2006 because of last summer’s highway bill, Department of Transportation
(DOT) R&D funding would level off at $807 million
in the 2007 House appropriation. The House would moderate steep proposed cuts
to aviation R&D and agree with DOT’s proposal to keep increasing highway R&D.
-
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) federal
R&D would total $790 million in the latest House appropriation, a $25 million
boost over both the request and the current year, for a 3.3 percent gain.
Budget Outlook: Long Waits Ahead
Although
the House drafted its 11 appropriations bills with unusual speed and approved
10 of them before the Fourth of July recess, the FY 2007 appropriations process
is likely to slow down considerably from this point. The Senate has made a good
start by drafting 6 of 11 bills before the July recess, and could draft the remaining
5 before the month-long August recess. But the House leadership pulled the Labor-HHS
bill from floor consideration because of an attached legislative provision raising
the federal minimum wage, and has threatened to keep the bill off the floor until
after the November elections. And the Senate leadership has had enormous difficulty
scheduling floor time for legislation, meaning that the full Senate may have time
to debate and approve only a few of its bills before August. Because of these
expected delays, few if any of the conference committees to craft House-Senate
compromises on the final versions of the appropriations bills will be able to
complete their work before the October 1 start of FY 2007. With Congress eager
to spend October on the campaign trail, it could then be several weeks after the
November elections until a lame-duck Congress finishes up the FY 2007 appropriations
bills. Until then, the final fate of many of the proposed ACI and other priority
R&D increases will be up in the air, and other agencies with widely varying
requested, House, or Senate marks will only be able to guess at what their FY
2007 budgets will look like, even after the fiscal year starts.
(This analysis is one of a series
of AAAS R&D Funding Updates on FY 2007 congressional appropriations. The complete
series of AAAS R&D Funding Updates, including continually updated analyses
of R&D in FY 2007 appropriations, is available on the AAAS R&D Web Site (http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd)
in the “FY 2007 R&D” or the “What’s
New” sections.)
-
July 5, 2006 (corrected 7/11)
