by Gary Jones
FLC Washington, DC Representative
Greetings from DC. It's that time of year again, when government employees get to see the Administration's plan for funding their activities over the next fiscal year. The President rolled out the FY 2008 budget on February 5, including funding requests associated with R&D initiatives government-wide, commonly referred to as the "R&D Budget."
At this time of year, analysts looking at the proposed R&D budget typically like to compare it to the existing (i.e., FY 2007) R&D budget to illustrate the Administration's evolving science and technology priorities.
Unfortunately, when the FY 2008 budget was rolled out, the FY 2007 budget was not yet completed (i.e., only two appropriations bills had been passed, defense and homeland security), so there remained some uncertainty over R&D funding for the current fiscal year. On February 15, the President signed a joint continuing resolution (CR) funding the government, including the R&D components, for the remainder of FY 2007.
In this column I highlight select R&D implications of the FY 2007 CR (as identified by the appropriators) and provide an initial look at the FY 2008 R&D budget—and point to where more details on the budget can be found.
Under the FY 2007 CR, according to the House Appropriations Committee, "[M]ost programs are funded at FY 2006 levels…" The CR also cuts over 60 programs, strips earmarks and uses these savings to "address critical investment needs." Select science-related critical investments include: $28.9 billion to NIH (an increase of $619.5 million) to support various research initiatives; $50 million in new funding at NIST for physical science research; $4.7 billion to NSF (an increase of $335 million) to fund "innovation programs"; $3.8 billion (an increase of $200 million) to the DOE Office of Science for energy technology research; and $1.5 billion (an increase of $300 million) to DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to accelerate research in these programs.
As the AAAS notes, the FY 2008 R&D budget continues some of the general themes from earlier budgets, with "large proposed increases for the three physical sciences agencies in the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), increases for weapons development and human spacecraft development, and declining funding for the rest of the federal research and development (R&D) portfolio." (The ACI agencies include NIST, DOE Office of Science and NSF.)
The total FY 2008 R&D budget would increase to $143 billion, an increase of 1.4 percent over FY 2007. Within this total, basic research is up $129 million (0.5 percent), applied research is down $1.2 billion (-4.4 percent), and development is up $2.4 billion (3 percent). Defense and non-defense will increase by $700 million (0.9 percent) and $1.3 billion (2.2 percent), respectively.
These and all figures associated with the FY 2008 R&D budget are based on a preliminary analysis compiled by the AAAS. (Note: At the time of that analysis, the joint CR for FY 2007 was not final, and all comparisons to FY 2007 are to the then-expected final numbers in the joint CR, some of which may have changed slightly before passage).
These preliminary figures suggest an overall increase in the R&D budgets for some agencies and a decrease for others (see figures to the right).
These figures tell only part of the story, of course. As noted in last year's "budget column," they reflect the net result of numerous programmatic changes within agencies.
Further, changes in agency R&D budgets do not necessarily reflect a changing commitment to the function associated with that agency.
For example, while DHS R&D funding is in decline for the second year in a row, funding for homeland security R&D activities in general is not.
The House Science and Technology Committee, which has jurisdiction over all civilian R&D programs, held its initial hearing on the R&D budget on February 14, with testimony from Dr. John Marburger, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy. Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) set the tone for the current R&D budget debate by noting that while he appreciated Dr. Marburger's responses to committee questions, he was "still not convinced this budget proposal is informed or realistic." Some of Chairman Gordon's concerns include the proposed elimination of the Advanced Technology Program, reduction in funding for the Manufacturing Extension Program, and the placement of 70 percent of the math and science education budget within the Department of Education, while related funding is cut at NSF.
The FY 2008 budget process is just beginning, but with a new majority at the congressional helm for the first time in 12 years—who are sometimes at odds with the R&D priorities of the current administration—I think it's safe to say that the process, good or bad depending on your perspective, will at the very least be different from years past.
The next few months should prove very interesting.
Gary can be reached at gkjones@federallabs.org.
