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More than 46 million Americans, nearly 15 percent of the population, lived in poverty in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. Compared against census data for 1999, more than 2,500 of the country’s 3,100-plus counties saw their rate increase. In 2015, 753 counties had a poverty rate of at least 20 percent — and 415 of these counties have been above this threshold in census data dating back to at least 1989.

If it takes a village to raise a child, it may take an entire educational support system as well as public policy reform and funding to get that child into a skilled technical job. A two-year study coordinated by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that the disjointed method of workforce development approaches in the U.S. may be hampering the economic competitiveness of the country.

While U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has announced that the Rural Development agency would be elevated under a reorganization plan because it would be placed under the direct oversight of the Secretary, not everyone is viewing the consolidation as an elevation.

In an effort to incentivize large-scale industry partnerships, Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada will invest up to C$950 million (US$708.5 million) between 2017 and 2022 in superclusters as part of the nation’s Innovation and Skills Plan.

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.

The Kauffman Foundation’s recently updated Index of Startup Activity finds that startup activity has increased for the third consecutive year and has now reached pre-recession levels. Nationally, the index, which measures business startup activity from 1997 to 2016, increased moderately after two years of sharp growth.

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).

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.

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 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).

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.

Research and development activities in the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) would face a considerable decrease under the president’s proposed FY 2018 budget.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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).

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).

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.

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 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).

Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the launch of the Economic Development Administration's (EDA) 2015 Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) Program competition to spur innovation capacity-building activities in regions across the nation. Under the 2015 announcement, SBA will commit $10 million for two funding opportunities.

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.