The Federal R&D Budget: Context, Overview, Outlook Matt Hourihan January 28, 2015 for the AWIS Leadership Series 2015 AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program and-policy-program and-policy-program

The Federal Budget Cycle Phase 1: Internal agency discussions and planning Joint guidance from OMB / OSTP on S&T (midsummer) Agencies deliver budget justifications to OMB (early fall)

The Federal Budget Cycle Phase 2: OMB performs multi-stage review, responds to agencies Budget proposals are finalized in January President presents the proposed budget to Congress early February

The Federal Budget Cycle Phase 3: Congress gets involved Approves budget resolution: spending targets, reconciliation 302(b) allocations Approps committees write/approve 12 appropriations bills 12 subcommittees: one for each bill “President proposes, Congress disposes”

That’s How It’s Supposed to Work, Anyway… FY10: Final omnibus in December (~3 months late) FY11: No Budget Res; full-year CR in April (six months late) FY12: No Budget Res; minibus/megabus (2-3 months late) FY13: FISCAL CLIFF; final approps in March (5 months late) FY14: No Budget Res; budget 2 months late; SHUTDOWN; final approps in January FY15: Budget 1 month late; final approps in December

BCA takes effect: first year of caps

Sequestration kicks in (delayed and reduced by the American Taxpayer Relief Act)

Budget warfare resolved by Bipartisan Budget Act (restores some funding in FY14, FY15)

The Fiscal Context for FY 2015 Congress keeps (partially) restoring funding FY15: 21% reduction in cuts Discretionary spending cap is only 0.2% above FY14 before inflation Very little room for any sort of program growth… …reflected in the President’s budget

Admin R&D Priorities for FY15 Department of Energy: NNSA, renewables and efficiency, ARPA-E Neuroscience NASA: industry partnerships Transportation: highways and high-performance rail Extramural ag research Advanced Manufacturing Environmental research Plus: an extra $5.3 billion in the “Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative”

Notes on Appropriations Some notable gainers: DOD, NSF research NIH Alzheimer’s research NASA (especially Planetary Science, Aeronautics, exploration) USDA: Poultry science center funding, AFRI NOAA Research Modest increases for NIST, USGS NSF construction, BRAIN Initiative fully funded

Notes on Appropriations Most NIH institutes: sub-inflation Mixed outcomes for Office of Science programs, energy technology programs EPA, NASA Earth Science cut No high-performance rail R&D Omnibus also included ~$500 billion for Ebola-related research and clinical trials Excluded DHS Most agencies ahead of the discretionary curve

Looking ahead to FY16… Back to sequester levels? President to propose cap increase Size and composition of the discretionary budget? Can R&D stay ahead of the curve? Deficits have fallen, but big-picture fiscal challenges remain largely unchanged Debt limit, entitlement growth Reconciliation strategy?

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