SSTI Digest

In Part 1 of this two-part series, SSTI examined NIH’s proposed changes that will place limits on individual researcher funding. In Part 2, impacts of the limits are explored. In the May 18th  Digest, proposed changes to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants funding process were highlighted. The changes – tilted the Grant Support Index (GSI) – would impose a general limit of three major grants per researcher. Since the article was published, the NIH’s director, Francis Collins, announced during a U.S. House appropriations subcommittee that NIH intends to proceed with the GSI proposal. In this second part of the series,SSTI reveals  areas within the field of tech-based economic development that could see the benefits and/or the negative unintended consequences of these changes. In particular, the proposed GSI could raise two important questions for tech-based economic development professionals: Will Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program-supported states see an increase in the number/amount of NIH grant funding received? How will the GSI requirements impact states that have “star scientist” programs…

The president’s budget for FY 2018 would eliminate funding for numerous innovation programs, slash spending on R&D and technology transfer and limit education and training opportunities. The full budget proposal may well be “dead on arrival” in Congress, but this is not the same as Congress rejecting each budget proposal. These cuts threaten America’s long-term economic, medical and security interests — described by WIRED as “science insurance” — but cuts to Medicaid and Meals-on-Wheels will continue to receive the bulk of national attention. If federal spending for science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship is to remain a national priority, the best — and likely, only — advocates will be the practitioners, researchers, investors and entrepreneurs who experience these initiatives on a daily basis. In short: you. Highlighting some of the budget proposal’s specific cuts emphasize the challenge (all numbers relative to the enacted FY 2017 budget). Regional Innovation Strategies, a program that has funded 73 initiatives in 34 states to support the transformation of ideas into products and…

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the department’s budget justification, and all FY 2017 figures are from committee reports for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. The president’s FY 2018 request for discretionary budget authority to fund programs and operating expenses is $21.0 billion, approximately $4.8 billion below the 2017 estimate in discretionary program funding for the Department of Agriculture (USDA). This includes funding for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Rural Development, Forest Service, food safety, research, and conservation activities. However, the budget does not include the USDA reorganization plan that was announced by Secretary Sonny Perdue on May 11, which proposes a change in status for Rural Development. Research, Education, and Economics REE responsibilities are carried out by four agencies: Agricultural Research Service (ARS) conducts intramural research in natural and biological sciences would be $993 million ($117.2 million, 15.1 percent decrease). The budget proposes the termination of “lower-priority” and extramural research…

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the department’s budget justification, and all FY 2017 figures are from committee reports for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. The Department of Commerce houses a variety of science- and innovation-relevant agencies, most of which receive substantial cuts in the administration’s FY 2018 budget. Collectively, Commerce would lose many of its initiatives targeted to entrepreneurs, most notably the Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). Economic Development Administration The proposal would virtually eliminate EDA, requesting no program dollars ($237.0 million in FY 2017) and $30 million for administrative expenses related to closing the agency ($9 million, 23.1 percent decrease). RIS, including both the i6 Challenge and Seed Fund funding lines, would be eliminated ($17.0 million in FY 2017), along with all other EDA-sponsored programs. The administration would handle outstanding revolving loan fund grants by defederalizing these commitments, allowing state and local governments to make their own determinations for the futures of…

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the department’s budget justification, and all FY 2017 figures are from DoD’s FY 2017 request with continuing resolution adjustments. The FY 2018 budget request for the Department of Defense (DOD) would provide $574.5 billion in discretionary base funding. Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) would receive a total $83.3 billion – an $11 billion (15.2 percent) increase. This includes $13.2 billion for Science and Technology, a $0.6 billion (4.8 percent) increase, which is comprised of Basic Research, Applied Research and Advanced Technology Development. DoD Basic Research would receive $2.2 billion ($0.2 billion; 4.8 percent increase), Applied Research $5 billion ($0.2 billion; 3.3 percent increase), and Advanced Technology Development $6 billion ($0.4 billion; 6.4 percent increase). In the FY 2018 agency budget proposal, the DoD is pursuing new technology development, operational concepts, and organizational constructs in several areas including: $252.9 million for Common Kill Vehicle Technology development (previously funded in FY 2016 at $…

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the department’s budget justification, and all FY 2017 figures are from committee reports for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. The president’s proposed FY 2018 budget would provide $976.9 million in total funding for Career and Technical Education (CTE) within the U.S. Department of Education, a $148.1 million (13.2 percent) decrease. National CTE programs would receive $27.4 million in the proposed budget, a $20 million (270.3 percent) increase. State grant-based CTE programs would receive $949.5 million in FY 2018, a $168.1 million (15 percent) decrease.  Funding for notable programs such as Pell Grants ($22.4 billion) and Minority Science and Engineering Improvement ($9.6 million) would not see their funding levels change from the FY 2017 enacted budget. The president’s proposed FY 2018 budget would eliminate the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which had previously received $1.2 billion in the FY 2017 enacted budget. 

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the department’s budget justification, and all FY 2017 figures are from committee reports for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. The president’s FY 2018 budget request would provide $28.0 billion in total funding for the Department of Energy, a $2.7 billion (8.9 percent) decrease from the FY 2017 omnibus. Notably, the proposed budget would eliminate the ARPA-E program, which received $306 million as part of the FY 2017 omnibus. The proposed budget “refocuses the Department’s energy and science programs on early-stage research and development (R&D) at the national laboratories to advance American primacy in scientific and energy research in an efficient and cost effective manner,” according to the DOE. Under the proposed FY 2018 budget, the DOE’s Office of Science would receive $4.5 billion to support basic research in the physical sciences. This represents an $892 million (16.5 percent) decrease from the FY 2017 omnibus. The following Office of Science research programs would receive funding: Program FY 2018 Proposed ($, millions)…

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the department’s budget justification, and all FY 2017 figures are from committee reports for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. The administration’s FY 2018 budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is $69.8 billion in discretionary spending, reflecting a $14.6 billion (17.3 percent) decrease from FY 2017 estimated funding levels. Discretionary spending accounts for approximately 7 percent of the total proposed HHS budget. Mandatory spending for programs like Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program account for the balance. Total FY 2018 budget authority for HHS would be $1.1 trillion (0.03 percent increase over FY 2017 estimates).   National Institutes of Health (NIH) In FY 2018, NIH would receive $26.9 billion, a decrease of $5.7 billion (17.4 percent). As part of the 21st Century Cures Act, the Congressionally authorized 10-year $4.8 billion funding commitment, NIH will commit $496 million in FY 2018 for four key initiatives including: The Precision Medicine Initiative; The Brain…

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the department’s budget justification, and all FY 2017 figures are from committee reports for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. The administration’s FY 2018 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is $44.1 billion, a $5.2 billion (10.5 percent) decrease in non-disaster, net discretionary funding, excluding disaster-relief funding. The proposed budget would include $975.8 million in new funding for “high-priority tactical infrastructure and border security technology improvements to provide a layered defense at the border and effective surveillance technology and equipment.” In conjunction with the FY 2018 budget, President Trump released an Executive Order, Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure, to keep cybersecurity as a key national priority and places DHS at the forefront of those efforts. The FY 2018 budget includes:  $971.3 million ($301.9 million; 45.1 percent increase) to improve security of the U.S. cyber infrastructure in collaboration with public, private, and international…

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the department’s budget justification, and all FY 2017 figures are from committee reports for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. Notably, the president’s proposed FY 2018 budget would eliminate funding for Community Development Block Grants. These grants received $3.0 billion in the FY 2017 budget. The proposed FY 2018 budget would provide $85.0 million for research and technology at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a $4.0 million (4.5 percent) decrease from FY 2017. The Jobs-Plus program, which provides workforce development training for public housing residents, would receive $10.0 million under the proposed FY 2018 budget, a $5.0 million (33.3 percent) reduction from FY 2017. 

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the department’s budget justification, and all FY 2017 figures are from committee reports for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. Interior includes several bureaus and offices that fund R&D and conduct tech transfer activities, all of which would receive less funding under the FY 2018 budget proposal. The Bureau of Reclamation would receive $14 million for R&D, a decrease of $20.6 million (59.5 percent); the Fish and Wildlife Service’s science support activities are proposed for elimination ($17 million in FY 2017); and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement’s technology development and transfer funding would be reduced by $2.4 million to $12.8 million (15.8 percent decrease). The majority of R&D funding within Interior is provided to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Surveys, Investigations and Research initiatives, which would be funded at $922.2 million in FY 2018, a decrease of $163.0 million (15.0 percent). 

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the department’s budget justification, and all FY 2017 figures are from committee reports for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. The Department of Justice (DOJ) would receive $27.7 billion in FY 2018 discretionary funding under the president’s budget request, a $1.2 billion (4.2 percent) decrease. For the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), the budget request includes $111 million for Research, Evaluation, and Statistics activities – a $22 million (24.8 percent) increase. DOJ would receive $35.5 million to support OJP’s research and statistics programs. The funding set-aside is intended to support the development and enhancement of basic statistical systems to monitor the criminal justice system. The budget request also includes $33 million (level funding) for the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) according to the OMB’s budget estimate for DOJ, which serves as the R&D agency of DOJ.