FY06 - Selected Agency and Program Budget Highlights
Homeland Security
After several years of double-digit budget increases, funding for the Department of Homeland Security's R&D programs slows dramatically. The Department of Homeland Security received
a $1.3 billion R&D budget, 3.1 percent higher than FY 05.
Investment in the R&D portfolio is shifting to research and technology areas in which greater threats are perceived.
Chemical, radiological, and nuclear countermeasures, as well as critical infrastructure protection and defense against portable missile attacks on commercial aircraft all received substantial
increases. A new Domestic Nuclear Detection Office is funded to uncover terrorist attempts to transport or use radiological or nuclear materials. These increases come at the expense of threat
and vulnerability assessment, emerging threats, standards
development, cyber security, and rapid prototyping. Biological countermeasures remain the top-funded R&D priority in DHS at $376 million.
- DHS will nearly complete its consolidation of all its R&D
activities into the department’s science and technology
directorate; Congress allowed Coast Guard R&D to remain
independent for FY 06.
- Final DHS appropriations include $2.5 billion for state and local level terrorism prevention activities. This includes
formula-based grants, and grants for law enforcement terrorism prevention, high threat/high density urban area protection, port security, transportation system security, firefighters, training, and exercises. For the first time, these grant programs will target funds to areas based on level of threat and risk—a policy that has some jurisdictions crying foul.
National Science Foundation
After several years of campaign to double the NSF budget
by FY 07, the agency is losing ground. After a budget decline
in FY 05, NSF received a 2 percent increase, bringing its
FY 06 budget to $5.6 billion. In real-terms, NSF has less to
invest in R&D this year compared to the last three fiscal
years. Research grants will be squeezed. For a second year in a row, NSF’s Education and Human Resource programs take a
significant cut.
National Institutes of Health
After years of large budget increases that culminated in health research dominance of Federal civilian R&D, NIH takes a
budget cut. For the first time in 36 years, the NIH budget
declines to $28.6 billion, albeit by a small tenth of one percent. In real terms, NIH has less for R&D in FY 06 than it did three years ago. After seeing its budget double in less than a decade, the NIH budget has stagnated since 2003. Research grants will be squeezed.
NASA
Development of new vehicles for the missions to the moon and Mars is the big winner. While NASA’s FY 06 budget of
$16.6 billion reflects a 2.5 percent increase (mostly for repairing facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina), there are significant shifts within its program portfolio. Declines in Space Shuttle costs have freed more than $660 million to boost R&D funding up more than 6 percent to $11.4 billion. That increase and more boosts the budget for developing vehicles for human space exploration by nearly 170 percent to $1.1 billion. Aeronautics research, and earth, biological and physical sciences all take
a hit.
Department of Commerce
The Advanced Technology Program survives another year; the Manufacturing Extension Partnership holds ground. Despite the Bush Administration (II) and House of Representatives
campaign to kill the Advanced Technology Program (ATP)–an industry-led, cost shared emerging technology program – nearly
$79 million was provided to pay mortgages on previously awarded ATP projects. No money was appropriated for new grants. Two years ago, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) was on life support, its budget cut down to $39 million. Last year, Congress saved the program with a budget of $108 million.
Despite the Bush Administration’s attempts to cut back MEP funding by two-thirds, MEP held ground with an FY 06 final
appropriation of nearly $105 million.
Hydrogen R&D
Initial Capitol Hill enthusiasm for the President’s Hydrogen Initiative waned. Initially, House and Senate appropriators planned to fully fund the President’s Hydrogen Initiative. However, support waned in conference, and R&D on fuel cells was appropriated at $136 million, $12 million below the request, and $13 million below FY 05 funding. R&D on hydrogen was funded at nearly $20 million below the President’s request and, with the rescission, will receive about $73 million.
TechVision21 Inside View: Congress’s cool reception to the
President’s Hydrogen Initiative comes on the heels of its generous authorization of hydrogen and fuel cell R&D in the National
Energy Policy Act of 2005, creating uncertainty about the Hill’s real commitment to the Hydrogen Economy. The President appears to remain committed to his Hydrogen Initiative; in his State of the Union address, he pledged an increase of $53 million over FY06 funding. Check out Inside View’s special in-depth supplement on the hydrogen and fuel cell R&D, grant, and demonstration programs authorized by the new Energy Policy Act.
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