1. A Look at the FY 2019 Budget (Does It Even Matter?)
Matt Hourihan
For the AAAS Annual Meeting
AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program

9. Quick Notes on FY19
NIH: consolidates AHRQ, NIOSH, NIDILRR to bring NIH to 30 institutes; $750m for opioids research
Salary capped at 90%, lowered to $152k from $187k
DOE: Big increase for exascale computing while other disciplines cut; ITER funded
ARPA-E killed (again), other technology cut
NSF: research increased 2%; two vessels instead of three
NASA: WFIRST killed, Earth Science cut, Planetary Science prioritized; moon projects and commercial space
USDA: ARS and formula funds trimmed, AFRI flat from FY17
Multiple agencies: Climate and environment broadly targeted
Coming soon: the return of trillion-dollar deficits

10. OK great. So does any of this matter?

11. The Budget Process at a Glance
Executive Branch
Legislative Branch
White House
Budget Committees
Budget Resolution
OMB
Agencies
OSTP
February Budget Request
Appropriations Committees & Subcommittees
SPENDING BILLS (x12)

18. Some Factors That Bear on Appropriations Decisions
“All politics is local”
Jobs
Local impacts
Outreach by constituents
Values and ideology
Role of government versus role of industry
(Anti) Regulation
Public interest concerns
Competitiveness, health, energy security, national security
Eliminating waste, inefficiency, duplication
Individual legislator interests
Balance and tradeoffs: need to achieve a bill that attracts sufficient votes

19. Energy & Water Subcommittee
House
Senate
Chair
Mike Simpson (ID)
Lamar Alexander (TN)
Ranking Member
Marcy Kaptur (OH)
Dianne Feinstein (CA)
Tradeoffs: Balancing basic research and facilities, labs, tech portfolio, NNSA; also Army Corps, Bureau of Reclamation
NNSA the biggest priority
Office of Science: as basic science arm, generally supported, especially in Senate
National labs help
Technology programs: Congress tends to fund when funding is available, but can also be first on the chopping block
Some value innovation programs more than others
Regional energy politics
Ideology matters

20. Labor, HHS, Education Subcommittee
House
Senate
Chair
Tom Cole (OK)
Roy Blunt (MO)
Ranking Member
Rosa DeLauro (CT)
Patty Murray (WA)
Deep divisions over public health programs, education, labor
But everybody loves NIH!
We have now had multiple years of multibillion dollar increases
Alzheimer’s, cancer, opioids big priorities lately
Congress has so far protected NIH awardees from indirect cost changes
Other programs also have their supporters (BioShield, BARDA, CDC, etc)

21. Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee
House
Senate
Chair
John Culberson (TX)
Richard Shelby (AL)
Ranking Member
Jose Serrano (NY)
Jeanne Shaheen (NH)
Tradeoffs: Balancing Justice, Commerce, NASA, NSF; smaller bills this year
NSF: many appropriators still value basic research
Though disciplinary fights and attacks can have their toll
NASA: recent priority, especially popular with current cardinals
Again: labs and research centers help
NOAA and NIST: more controversy but aspects of these agencies do have supporters, often for locally-driven reasons
(i.e. Sea Grant has been protected)

22. Looking Ahead
FY 2018: Congress has until March 23 to finalize appropriations
Cap deal in place, negotiations underway
Trump Admin recommendations will likely be ignored
FY 2019: a similar story on appropriations?
Won’t see spending bills until after FY 2018 is dealt with
Infrastructure plan?
FY 2020: cap negotiations one more time
Who controls Congress next year?

24. mhouriha@aaas.org 202-326-6607 http://www.aaas.org/rd
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