SSTI Digest

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 Employment and Training Administration (ETA) within the Department of Labor would receive $6.9 billion under the president’s proposed FY 2018 budget, a $3.1 billion (31.1 percent) decrease from the FY 2017 approved budget. Within the ETA, the budget would provide: $732.5 million for Dislocated Worker Assistance, a $127.5 million (14.8 percent) decrease from FY 2017; $490.4 million for Adult Training, a $325.2 million (39.9 percent) decrease from FY 2017; and, $89.8 million for Apprenticeship Grants, a $5.2 million (5.4 percent) decrease from FY 2017. The Bureau of Labor Statistics would receive $607.8 million in FY 2018 under the president’s proposed budget, a $1.2 million (0.2 percent) decrease from FY 2017. The budget would provide $279.6 million for Veteran’s Employment and Training, a $600,000 (0.2 percent) increase 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. Research and development activities in the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) would face a considerable decrease under the president’s proposed FY 2018 budget. Notable examples include: $301.5 million to support operations and research within the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a $24.5 million (7.5 percent) decrease from FY 2017; $150 million for research engineering and development within the Federal Aviation Administration, a $26.5 million (15.0 percent) decrease from FY 2017; $39.1 million for research and development within the Federal Railroad Administration, a $1.0 million (2.5 percent) decrease from FY 2017; $9.1 million for research and technology within the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a $3.9 million (30.0 percent) decrease from FY 2017; and, $8.5 million for transportation planning research and development within the Office of the Secretary, a $3.5 million (29.2 percent) decrease 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. The FY 2018 budget proposal would terminate much of Treasury’s support for capital access. The Administration would not provide additional funding for the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), allowing the program office to close at the end of FY 2017. The Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFI) Fund would experience dramatic changes under the budget. The CDFI Fund has oversight of CDFIs, which provide capital access to businesses and individuals in under-served markets, New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), and a few other programs targeted to disadvantaged populations. The White House’s proposal would cut all program funding from the CDFI Fund, reducing its budget to $14 million for administrative expenses, a decrease of $234.0 million (94.4 percent). Funding for NMTCs and the Bond Guarantee Program would continue (funds do not come from the discretionary budget process), and staff would continue to monitor CDFI certification and performance.…

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 budget proposal would dramatically reduce funding throughout the EPA. The Office of Science and Technology, which houses the Agency’s R&D and tech transfer initiatives, would be reduced by $263 million to $450.8 million (36.8 percent decrease). Specific changes to the Office of Science and Technology include eliminating funding for the Science to Achieve Results program, which funds research grants, SBIR contracts and graduate fellowships, as well as the following: Research: Air and Energy — $30.6 million ($61.3 million, 66.7 percent decrease), including eliminating climate change research and reducing air quality research; Research: Safe and Sustainable Water Resources — $68.5 million ($37.8 million, 35.6 percent decrease), including “streamlining” support and technology transfer, eliminating water recovery and advanced systems research; Research: Sustainable Communities — $54.2 million ($80.1…

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 Science Mission Directorate within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) would receive $5.7 billion in the president’s proposed FY 2018 budget, a $53.1 million (0.9 percent) decrease from FY 2017. Within the directorate, the following research areas would receive funding: $1.9 billion for planetary science, a $83.5 million (4.5 percent) increase from FY 2017; $1.8 billion for earth science, a $166.9 million (8.7 percent) decrease from FY 2017; $816.7 million for astrophysics, a $66.7 million (8.9 percent) increase from FY 2017; $677.8 million for heliophysics, a $700,000 (0.1 percent) decrease from FY 2017; and, $533.7 million for the James Webb Space Telescope, a $35.7 million (6.3 percent) decrease from FY 2017. NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate would receive $678.6 million in FY 2018 under the president’s proposed budget, a $7.9 million (1.2 percent) decrease. While the FY 2017 budget did not include…

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the foundation’s budget justification, and, to provide the most detailed funding comparison, FY 2016 actuals were taken from the budget justification. The president’s FY 2018 budget proposal for the National Science Foundation (NSF) would provide $6.7 billion – a $840.9 million (11.2 percent) decrease in funding. Of that amount: $5.4 billion, a $636.4 million (10.6 percent) decrease, would be designated for research and related activities; $183 million, a $58.7 million (24.3 percent) decrease for R&D facilities and equipment; and, $761 million, a $123.6 million (14 percent) decrease for education and training. Nearly 90 percent of NSF funding is awarded through a merit-review process that includes distribution of grants and cooperative agreements. NSF directorates, offices and commission NSF is organized into several directorates, offices and a commission. FY 2018 funding for these entities (both discretionary and mandatory) would include:   Directorate, Office or Commission FY 2018 Request($ millions) …

Unless otherwise noted, all FY 2018 figures are from the other independent agencies’ budget proposal, and all FY 2017 figures are from committee reports for the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. The president’s FY 2018 budget proposal includes requests for four regional commissions with the funds appropriated only for the purposes of closure of these commissions, including: $31 million for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC); $7.3 million for the  Denali Commission; $2.5 million for the Delta Regional Authority (DRA); and, $850,000 for the Northern Border Regional Commission. These new funds and unobligated balances appropriated prior years will be available for the ongoing administration, oversight, and monitoring of grants previously awarded by the Commissions. In the FY 2017 approved budget, Congress showed strong bipartisan support in the appropriations for these four commissions including: $152 million to ARC (the commission’s largest appropriation in its history); $25 million to DRA; $15 million to the Denali Commission; and, $10 million to the Northern Border Regional Commission. The $152 million to ARC…

Unless otherwise noted, all figures are from the department’s budget justification. The administration’s FY 2018 budget would eliminate several programs providing support to entrepreneurs and small businesses, including FAST, a grant program that targets improved participation in SBIR/STTR, particularly for women and minorities, and the Regional Innovation Clusters and Growth Accelerators programs. SBA’s Entrepreneurial Development Programs would be cut by $52.6 million to $192.5 million (21.5 percent decrease), while Business Loan Programs would hold nearly steady at $156.2 million ($1.5 million, 1.0 percent decrease). Among the cuts to Entrepreneurial Development Programs are several initiatives specifically targeting innovation- and technology-focused entrepreneurship, as depicted in the following table.  SBA Entrepreneurial Development Programs FY 2018 Proposal ($ millions) Change from FY 2017 ($ millions) Change from FY 2017 (%) Regional Innovation Clusters 0.0 -5.0 -100% Growth Accelerators 0.0 -1.0 -100% Entrepreneurship…

One complication for the FY 2018 budget process is that discretionary spending is scheduled to decrease by billions from FY 2017 levels. The reason for this decrease is Congress’ solution to previous spending impasses: the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). This act set limits on how much can be spent on defense and non-defense discretionary spending for future years. While Congress frequently authorizes additional spending beyond the caps the act sets, if they fail to alter the FY 2018 spending level, it would reduce the discretionary budget by $110 billion. Federal spending on the “discretionary” portion of the budget is determined by BCA, which set limits on spending levels through 2021 as a means of ultimately achieving a relatively lower budget but delaying the policy decisions of how to apply the cuts. Discretionary spending is currently about 30 percent of the federal budget and comprises the appropriations for most initiatives apart from interest payments and mandatory spending (e.g., Social Security, Medicare). BCA’s limits are placed separately on two categories. The “defense” category includes virtually all of the…

SSTI continues its reporting on actions taken by state legislatures to invest in economic growth through science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. This week, we look at the budgets passed and signed by governors in Arizona, where R&D infrastructure will get a boost at the state’s public universities, Montana, which will see an increase in funding for some higher education research facilities, and Nebraska, where the state maintained the amount authorized for funding to small businesses for commercialization activities. Arizona Notably, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed HB2547, a bill that provides $27 million in funding to support R&D infrastructure at the state’s three public universities (University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University) through the University Capital Investment Program. This program enables universities to use their generated transaction privilege tax revenues for as much as $1 billion in bonding for new research and development infrastructure, including deferred maintenance projects. Additionally, general fund commitments as part of the state’s $9.8 billion FY2018…

The 2017 SSTI Creating a Better Future Award provides the perfect opportunity to show other practitioners, as well as policymakers, the success you have achieved at creating a better future for your region through science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. To be eligible, submit a brief application that highlights one of your organization’s most successful initiatives. Award categories encompass research; entrepreneurship and capital; competitive industries and economic opportunity; and, recognition for the most promising initiative. Check out the categories and more information at sstiawards.org. Visit our SSTI awards resources page for the call for applications, writing samples, and to listen to the information call. Don’t delay – deadline for applications is May 26.  Listen to the first two recordings of the 2017 SSTI Creating a Better Future Awards podcast to hear from last year’s award winners on  best practices while also gaining insight into what makes an award-winning innovation economy initiative. Available podcasts include: UCSC: Digital Health Accelerator Knowledge Based Economic Development …

In part one of two, SSTI will examine NIH’s proposed changes that will place limits on individual researcher funding. On May 2, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it intends to implement a new approach to grant funding with the purpose of increasing the number of researchers receiving grants. These proposed changes are due to a highly skewed distribution of NIH funding with 10 percent of NIH-funded investigators receiving over 40 percent of funding. NIH intends to roll out specific policies and procedures as part of the new approach – titled the Grant Support Index (GSI) – that will assess effectiveness of NIH research investments. During this time, NIH also will seek feedback from on how best to implement the individual grant funding limits. The new efforts will specifically focus on increasing the number of mid-career researchers receiving NIH grants due to recent declines in the percentage of NIH awards that support this group of researchers. NIH also proposes targeted efforts at increasing the percentage of NIH awards that early career researchers receive. As the press release highlights, the only group for which…