SSTI Digest

The Administration request of $89 billion for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget is predicated on passage of the Administration’s version of the 2007 Farm Bill proposals. As designed, the Administration's 2007 farm bill proposals would spend approximately $10 billion less than the 2002 farm bill spent over the past five years, according to the USDA press release. Approximately three-fourths of annual USDA budget outlays are for mandatory spending programs such as nutrition assistance, conservation, export promotion and farm commodity programs. The remaining balance of nearly $22 billion is for discretionary spending, which includes all USDA research and TBED-related programs. The FY08 budget request includes $341 million for the USDA portion of the multi-agency Food and Agricultural Defense Initiative (FADI), an increase of $164 million or 93 percent above the levels in the FY07 Continuing Resolution passed by the House last week [Note: All FY08 comparisons below are with the CR.] The largest line-item FADI increases within the USDA are for Enhanced Surveillance for Pest…

The Administration's FY 2008 discretionary budget request for the Department of Commerce (DOC) is $6.55 billion, a decrease in discretionary spending of $76 million from the FY06 appropriation. The department’s full-time equivalent staff would increase by 4,700 people between FY06 and FY08.   Funding for every DOC program or office supporting state and local TBED and traditional economic development programs would be cut deeply or proposed for elimination.   The Economic Development Administration (EDA), the agency charged with promoting regional economic development in distressed communities, would receive $202.8 million. The FY06 appropriation was $280.4 million. The cut would be entirely absorbed in the amount of funds available for grants to communities. FY08 EDA grant funds would decrease by 32 percent over the FY06 appropriation. EDA administrative expenses and staff size, however, would increase by 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively. In FY 2008, EDA would facilitate the streamlining of its application process into one comprehensive, simplified procedure under the Regional Development Account (…

The Administration’s FY 2008 budget request for the Department of Defense (DoD) totals $481.4 billion, an 11.3 percent increase over FY07. [Note: DoD’s FY07 appropriations bill was one of only two passed before the current fiscal year began. As a result, SSTI is able to provide comparisons between the FY08 request and the FY07 appropriations. Variance between FY08 request and FY07 appropriations is provided in parentheses.]   Science and technology in the department does not share the rapid rate of growth, though. As has been the case in every presidential budget proposal since FY02, the Administration’s FY08 request for DoD basic, applied and advanced technology development is less than the prior year appropriation. All stages of R&D are expecting cuts in this year’s budget: the request for basic research has fallen to $1.43 billion (8 percent decrease), applied research has been cut to $4.36 billion (18.6 percent decrease), and the request for advanced technology development has been reduced even more sharply to $4.99 billion (22.4 percent decrease).   The proposed reductions would affect all of the armed services and…

According to the U.S. Department of Education (ED), federal funding represents only 8.9 percent of America’s spending on elementary and secondary education during the 2006-07 school year. That share in FY 2008 would be $56 billion according to the Administration’s budget request for the agency. As in previous requests, the Administration’s FY08 budget request strives to eliminate a large number of programs, replacing many with a consolidated, but smaller, block grant program. Many of the 44 programs slated for termination address specific fields of study or population groups (e.g., economics education, mentally ill). The largest program on the chopping block, at $770 million, is for Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, which provides need-based grant aid to eligible undergraduate students to help reduce financial barriers to postsecondary education. The FY08 education budget includes specialized funding toward several K-12 math and science programs: $182.1 million for the Mathematics and Science Partnerships program, which provides grants to states and localities to improve academic achievement in mathematics and…

The Department of Energy (DOE) budget request for FY 2008 totals $24.3 billion, a 3 percent increase above the FY07 request. Key priorities in the budget are tied to President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative, Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, and American Competitiveness Initiative. The initiatives would affect most directly the department’s four energy offices, which together would receive a 20 percent boost in funding under the proposed budget and the Office of Science, which would receive a 7 percent increase. The Office of Fossil Energy and the Office of Nuclear Energy are expecting the biggest gains, at 33 percent and 38 percent, respectively. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy would receive a five percent increase, and the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability would see its funding reduced by 8 percent. Advanced Energy Initiative The FY08 request includes $2.7 billion for the second year of the Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), an initiative to promote the development of cleaner sources of electricity production. Areas of research targeted for increased support in FY08 include energy research and the commercialization of biomass,…

The lion’s share of the $697.3 billion FY 2008 budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is allocated towards Medicare (55.4 percent) and Medicaid (29.0 percent) spending. Discretionary programs, such as the Food and Drug Administration, Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), represent only 9.9 percent of the total HHS budget.   Within the Administration for Children and Families, the Administration proposes elimination of four programs related to community and economic development. The largest, Community Services Block Grants ($630 million in FY06), “is unable to demonstrate long-term outcomes,” according to the HHS FY08 budget summary. Community Economic Development, Job Opportunities for Low-Income Individuals, and Rural Community Facilities share a $40 million line item that is zeroed out.   The FY08 budget request for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is $330 million. AHRQ priorities in FY08 are the Personalized Health Care Initiative and the Value-Driven Health Care Initiative. Both work to move innovations more quickly into…

The Administration’s FY 2008 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) totals $46.4 billion in funding, an increase of 8 percent over the FY 2007 request. The key priority of this year’s request is a $13 billion initiative for border security and immigration enforcement.    The FY08 request provides $799 million for the Science and Technology Directorate, which oversees the department’s research, development, testing and evaluation activities. Last year, the directorate saw its funding request drop by 33 percent, as the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office spun off as a separate DHS office. Even after the reorganization, the FY08 budget cuts an additional $200 million from the directorate’s FY07 request of $1.002 billion.   Two Science and Technology programs, however, are expecting new and increased funding in FY08: Science and Technology Office of Innovation - $21.9 million (new) for this newly formed office, which funds the development of leap-ahead technologies for domestic security; and, Acceleration of Next-Generation Research and Development program - $47.4 million increase (total funding not…

The Administration's FY 2008 budget request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is $36.15 billion (31 percent decrease from the FY06 appropriation level – mostly due to a FY06 supplemental one-time funding for disaster relief). The department’s major priority for FY08 will be increasing home ownership.   The office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) would receive $65 million this year. It would be split between $40 million for the Research and Technology studies and testing and $25 million for University Programs, which provide funds to minority-specialized colleges and universities to form partnerships for revitalization activities with their surrounding communities.   Community Development Block Grants The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Fund would experience a $1.14 billion cut between the FY06 appropriation and the FY08 request. The formula grants component would shoulder the largest share of the decrease. Due to the department’s belief that the current funding mechanism has both inefficient and inequitable components, Congress will be asked to authorize a new formula for…

The Administration’s FY 2008 request of $10.705 billion for the Department of the Interior (DOI) represents a decrease of 2.3 percent from the FY06 appropriation. The FY08 figure is 1.7 percent above the president’s FY07 request.   In preparation for the National Parks Centennial, the park service will receive the largest budget in its history with $2.1 billion. Indian Affairs, wildfire preparedness, landowner stewardship, rural water, and National Park Service construction bear the majority of the department’s cuts.   Research activities within DOI are distributed among many offices and are relatively modest in spending, compared to other agencies discussed in this week’s Digest. Highlights include:   US Geological Survey - $975 million (1.2 percent above FY 06 appropriation). Included in the request is an additional $3 million for USGS to begin implementation of the oceans research priorities plan and implementation strategy by conducting observations, research, sea floor mapping and forecast modules. Work on the Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy will lead to decision-support…

The Administration's FY 2008 request for the Department of Labor (DOL) is $10.6 billion in discretionary budget authority, a decrease of $900 million (7.83 percent less) compared to the FY06 appropriation level of $11.5 billion. Compared to the FY06 budget overview, the agency’s payroll would increase by 679 full-time equivalent positions, however. More than half of the agency's total discretionary budget, $5.6 billion is requested for the Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The ETA's mission is to contribute to the more efficient functioning of the U.S. labor market by providing high quality job training, employment services, labor market information and temporary wage replacement. For a second straight year, the budget continues funding for the Community-Based Job Training Grants initiative at $150 million in an effort to strengthen the links between community and technical colleges and local labor markets, and employers. Building on the High Growth Job Training Initiative, the Community-Based Job Training Grants seeks to prepare workers to take advantage of new and increasing job opportunities in high growth industries and sectors of the U.S.…

The Administration's FY 2008 budget request for the Department of Transportation (DOT) is $67 billion. This funding would be distributed across the department's five key strategic objectives - improving safety (30.4%), reducing congestion (54.6%), increasing global transportation connectivity (2.1%), protecting the environment (9.8%) and supporting national security (1.4%) - with the balance of 1.7 percent going toward organizational excellence.   As with most other federal agencies, with notable exceptions such as the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, research and TBED programs constitute a very small percentage of DOT’s annual budget. For example, more than one-third of the DOT budget request is dedicated to highway and bridge construction and maintenance.   Among budget highlights for the scientific and engineering community is a $175 million request for a 21st century satellite navigation system to replace older air traffic control equipment. The FY08 request for all research, engineering and development at the Federal Aviation Administration is $140 million, including $91.…

There are only four programs in the Treasury Department that SSTI monitors for the tech-based economic development community. Most of them are slated for termination or phase-out in FY 2008. Treasury requests $24.4 million for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) Program (21 percent decrease from FY06 appropriation) and $4.12 million to administer the New Market Tax Credits Program (NMTC), a 3.2 percent decrease. The NMTC Program provides credit against federal income taxes to taxpayers making qualified equity investments in designated Community Development Entities in order to attract private capital investments in low-income communities. Both the Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) and CDFI Native Initiatives, including the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program are slated for elimination in the budget. The programs received $13.4 million and $5.8 million in FY06, respectively.