Fiscal Year 2006 Federal R&D Budget, Final Appropriations: Money's Tight, Most Federal R&D Budgets Flat or Declining, Few Winners
 With Federal budgets already constrained, and further pressured
by expenses for the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina clean up,
Federal R&D agencies—with few exceptions—received flat or
declining FY 06 R&D budgets. In addition, all Federal discretionary
programs took a last-minute one-percent cut on their final
budgets that had been appropriated by Congress.
TechVision21 Inside View: The President has made a bold
commitment to non-health R&D. However, budget pressures such
as the War in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina clean up, Bush tax cuts,
and no stomach for cutting entitlements mean either real
work ahead to turn his new vision for R&D into budgetary reality,
or shuffling of R&D dollars from other program areas to the new
priorities.
- Total Federal R&D investment for FY 06 (estimated) reaches
a new high of $134.8 billion, an increase of $2.2 billion or 1.7
percent over FY 05. Nearly all of the increase goes to weapons
system and space vehicle development. Most other Federal R&D
program budgets won’t keep pace with inflation and some were
cut. The final R&D budgets disappointed many who have
called for greater Federal investment in R&D, especially in the
physical and other non-life sciences, but they are heartened by
the President’s new commitment to R&D.
- Defense R&D: Defense-related R&D reaches a new high with
a slight 1.8 percent increase to $77 billion, but this increase
fails to keep pace with inflation. Most of the increase in defense
R&D goes to weapons systems development at the Department of
Defense. The defense share of Federal R&D—57.5 percent—is its
highest share since the end of the Cold War.
- Non-defense R&D: Non-defense R&D gets a 1.4 percent gain
to $57 billion. Most of the increase goes to NASA for new space
exploration vehicles, while other non-defense R&D won’t keep
pace with inflation. Health-related research will account for
more than half of all Federal civilian R&D, little change in the
balance of the Federal R&D portfolio that has been a concern for
the past several years.
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