Washington, D.C. -22 March 2002- An updated analysis of U.S. President George W. Bush's fiscal year (FY) 2003 budget proposal for research and development (R&D), based on new data from federal agencies, is now available for online previewing through the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The full report will be released at the AAAS Science & Technology Policy Colloquium, 11 - 12 April 2002, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.
The AAAS Report XXVII: Research and Development FY 2003 is the definitive guide to the R&D budget, providing detailed analyses of the President's budget proposals for research in all federal agencies. The report points to trends in funding based on legislative history, and examines the impact of funding on individual agencies.
This version of the AAAS report supersedes previous, preliminary analyses of R&D in the FY2003 budget. A preview of the new document, based on agency data acquired after the release of the President's budget, is available online at http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/rd/prev03p.htm.
Citing the war on terrorism and a weak economy as justifications for a return to deficit spending, the President proposes tax cuts and large increases in discretionary spending for FY 2003. These follow even larger tax cuts and spending increases in FY 2002. The FY 2003 budget calls for overall increases in federal investment in R&D, especially for the high-priority areas of defense, health, and homeland security. Echoing last year's request, however, the President would target the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for increases, leaving all other R&D programs overall with flat or declining budgets.
Among the trends noted:
- Because the DOD and the NIH are the two largest funding sources of federal R&D and high priorities for the Bush Administration, total federal R&D would increase substantially in FY 2003 to a record $112 billion, $8.9 billion or 8.6 percent more than FY 2002.
- As in 2001, the proposed increases for DOD ($5.2 billion) and NIH ($3.7 billion) would make up the entire $8.9 billion increase, leaving all other R&D funding agencies combined with barely the same amount as FY 2002. Unlike last year, when most R&D funding agencies would have seen their R&D funding decline, FY 2003 would see increases or decreases scattered even with agency portfolios, as agencies try to prioritize in an environment of scarce resources.
- Non-defense R&D would increase by 7.2 percent to $53.3 billion. In order to complete the campaign to double the NIH budget between FY 1998 and FY 2003, NIH would receive a 16 percent increase in its R&D funding to $26.5 billion. Excluding NIH, however, all other non-defense R&D would fall by 0.2 percent to $26.8 billion, a loss of $56 million.
- Defense R&D would increase 9.9 percent to reach $58.8 billion, reflecting increased attention to DOD needs in a time of war. The entire $5.2 billion DOD increase and more would go to development costs of new weapons and missile defense systems; DOD basic and applied research would both decline, within a record-breaking proposed increase for the DOD budget as a whole. Department of Energy (DOE) defense R&D would rise 2.8 percent to $3.9 billion.
- The federal investment in basic research would grow by 7.9 percent or $1.9 billion to an all-time high of $25.5 billion, primarily because of a 9.0 percent requested increase for basic research in NIH. Total federal research (basic and applied) would climb by 6.5 percent to $51.9 billion, but total research excluding NIH would decline 0.2 percent to $26.3 billion.
- The AAAS analysis of the outyear projections in the FY 2003 budget shows that total R&D would increase to $122.1 billion in FY 2007 under Bush Administration long-term budget plans, an 8.1 percent gain after adjusting for expected inflation. NIH and DOD would be responsible for most of the increase.
- Within a flat funding environment, federal R&D in three interagency initiatives would increase. Funding for the National Nanotechnology Initiative would climb 17.5 percent to $710 million after an even larger increase last year. Networking and Information Technology R&D would increase by 2.5 percent to $1.9 billion over seven agencies. And the ongoing US Global Change Research Program would see its funding rise 2.6 percent to $1.7 billion in FY 2003. Another multi-agency effort, on counter-terrorism R&D, received an enormous funding boost to $1.5 billion in FY 2002, nearly triple the FY 2001 funding level. In FY 2003, counter-terrorism R&D would increase again to a preliminary estimate of $2.8 billion, with NIH taking over the role of lead agency, especially in bioterrorism.
Since 1976, AAAS has published an annual report that analyzes R&D funding in the proposed federal budget. The purpose of the report is to provide scientists, engineers, and policymakers with timely, objective information about the Administration's plans. The AAAS Report XXVII: Research and Development FY 2003 is a collaborative effort on the part of AAAS and 21 scientific, engineering, higher education, and industrial associations that are known collectively as the Intersociety Working Group. At the end of each congressional session, AAAS also publishes a report reviewing the impact of appropriations decisions on research and development, entitled Congressional Action on Research and Development in the FY 2003 Budget.
Founded in 1848, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) works to advance science for human well-being through its projects, programs and publications in the areas of science policy, science education and international scientific cooperation. With over 134,000 members from 130 countries and 273 affiliated societies comprising more than 10 million members, AAAS is the world's largest federation of scientists. The association also publishes Science, an editorially independent, multidisciplinary, weekly peer-reviewed journal that ranks as the world's most prestigious scientific journal and administers EurekAlert! (http://www.eurekalert.org), the online news service featuring the latest discoveries in science and technology.