Update on the FY 1997 Budget

Last week, the House and the Senate approved the concurrent (final) budget resolution for FY 1997. The $1.63 trillion spending blueprint establishes broad spending targets for the coming fiscal year. Nondefense R&D is budgeted at $32.2 billion in FY 1997, down from the FY 1996 total of $32.7 billion.

The AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Project has calculated the impact of the resolution on nondefense r&d. The impact on the major r&d agencies breaks down as follows:

Agency/Program R&D

FY 1995

R&D

FY 1996 (est.)

R&D

FY 1997 (proj.)

HHS 11,690 12,091 11,925 NASA 9,875 9,416 9,316 DOE (nondefense) 3,969 3,577 3,456 NSF 2,544 2,401 2,464 USDA 1,540 1,425 1,425 Commerce 1,284 948 880

All figures in million of dollars budget authority Source: AAAS Analysis

Congress continues work on the 13 appropriations bills which will fund discretionary program, including federal r&d spending. As of June 13, the House had approved four appropriations bills: Defense (HR3610); Agriculture (HR 3603); Foreign/AID (HR 3540) and Military Construction (HR 3517).

The AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Project tracks proposed funding levels for r&d in the various appropriations bills as they move through Congress. The information is available at its web site: http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/rd/rdwwwpg.htm