1. Introduction to the Federal (R&D) Budget
Matt Hourihan
March 14, 2016
For the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students
AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program

2. Why Does the Federal R&D Budget Matter?

3. The Federal Budget is Kind Of a Big Deal
“Politics is who gets what, when, and how.” - Harold Lasswell
“Budgeting is about values, and it’s about choices.” – Rep. Rosa DeLauro
Every dollar in the budget has its claimants!
Negotiation between competing interests (and their proxies) in a decentralized system

7. Fiscal History and Context

17. Current (FY 2017) Cycle: Where Are We?
Déjà vu: second year of a two-year budget deal, with mostly flat discretionary spending, again
President’s budget request released a month ago
Mix of mandatory and discretionary spending for R&D

21. Agency Notes NIH: base budget down $1 billion (-3.1%); Cancer Moonshot
DOE: efficiency, renewables, computing, genomics; cuts for fusion research
Mandatory funding for electric vehicles, biofuels, infrastructure
NSF: base budgets mostly flat for directorates
NASA: Cuts with or without new mandatory spending
Priorities: earth science research, asteroid retrieval, heliophysics, cleaner aviation
DOD S&T: Basic research cut by 9.0%
USDA: competitive grants boosted
Also advanced manufacturing, climate science, cybersecurity, STEM education…

24. Looking Ahead
Remember, Congress has the “power of the purse”
Spending levels? Budget resolutions?
Appropriations getting underway
Regular order? Election slowdown?

25. For more info…