AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd R&D in the FY 2007 Budget Kei Koizumi March 14, 2006 for the Biological Ecological Sciences Coalition (BESC)/Coalition on Funding Agricultural Research Missions (CoFARM) AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd See the “What’s New” section for the latest updates; see the “Seminars and Presentations” section for copies of this presentation.

BUDGET CONTEXT FOR FY 2007: DEFICITS and BUDGET CUTS AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program A COMMUNICATION PORTAL FOR THE MACARTHUR INITIATIVE BUDGET CONTEXT FOR FY 2007: DEFICITS and BUDGET CUTS The budget deficit is still at record levels. President Bush proposes to cut the deficit in half by 2009, but primarily through cuts in discretionary spending. Defense spending would decline only because the budget leaves out most future Iraq and Afghanistan costs. Regular domestic spending already falls in 2006, and the budget proposes further reductions in 2007 and future years. Federal R&D comes from the discretionary budget.

R&D IN THE FY 2007 BUDGET: MAKING PHYSICAL SCIENCES A TOP PRIORITY AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program A COMMUNICATION PORTAL FOR THE MACARTHUR INITIATIVE R&D IN THE FY 2007 BUDGET: MAKING PHYSICAL SCIENCES A TOP PRIORITY There would be clear winners and losers in the FY 2007 R&D budget, up 1.8% to $137 billion. Physical sciences research is a high priority: there would be big increases for NSF, DOE Office of Science, and the NIST labs as the first step in a 10-year doubling plan. There would be other big winners: DOD weapons development and NASA space vehicles development. But in a declining domestic budget, for every increase there would be steep cuts.

R&D IN THE FY 2007 BUDGET (2) AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program A COMMUNICATION PORTAL FOR THE MACARTHUR INITIATIVE R&D IN THE FY 2007 BUDGET (2) The budget would be a break from the flat or declining funding of recent years for DOE Office of Science, NSF, and NIST, and would begin to reverse the real cuts of recent years. But most other research programs are in for steep cuts, including biological and agricultural sciences.

THE 2007 BUDGET AND HISTORICAL TRENDS: STILL FALLING AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program A COMMUNICATION PORTAL FOR THE MACARTHUR INITIATIVE THE 2007 BUDGET AND HISTORICAL TRENDS: STILL FALLING The proposed increases are limited to some key areas, and do not change the overall trends of declining federal support for research. Universities perform half of all federal research. Development would continue to increase, but research funding would continue to decline. Federal research funding continues to lag the U.S. economy, even as other nations are making big gains.

CONGRESS: WHAT’S NEXT AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program A COMMUNICATION PORTAL FOR THE MACARTHUR INITIATIVE CONGRESS: WHAT’S NEXT Congress takes up the 2007 budget resolution this week. Although congressional leaders are keen on innovation as a big issue, the problem is finding the resources. The budget resolution could match the request for discretionary programs. If it does, the 2007 appropriations season will be tough. Congress is facing pressure to add money to steep proposed cuts in other parts of the budget, to provide emergency funding, and to block proposed entitlements cuts (Medicare). Unless there are different choices in the overall budget, most R&D investments will continue to shrink.

AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program A COMMUNICATION PORTAL FOR THE MACARTHUR INITIATIVE FOR MORE INFORMATION… The AAAS R&D web site is www.aaas.org/spp/rd