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Summary:
The Bush Administration requested $137.2 billion in federal research and development (R&D) funding for FY2007. This sum represents a 2.6% increase over the estimated $133.7 billion that was approved in FY2006. As in the recent past, the FY2007 increase over the FY2006 estimated funding levels is due to significant funding increases in the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) space vehicles development program. The centerpiece of the President's proposed FY2007 R&D budget is the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI). The President proposed this initiative in response to growing concerns about America's ability to compete in the technological global market place. Over the next 10 years, the $136 billion initiative would commit $50 billion for research, science education, and the modernization of research infrastructure. The remaining $86 billion would finance a revised permanent R&D tax incentive over the next 10 years. The most recent federal research tax credit expired on December 31, 2005. In his budget request, the President asked Congress to pass a permanent Research and Experimental Federal tax credit. As part of the $50 billion for research, the President has called for doubling federal R&D funding over10 years. This increase would include the physical sciences and engineering research in three agencies: the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). According to the Administration, in FY2007, the ACI overall funding increases for NSF, DOE, and NIST would be $910 million, or 9.3% above FY2006 estimated funding levels for th three agencies. Despite the ACI proposal, total federal basic research funding for FY2007 would be flat at $28.2 billion (in real dollars). Five agencies account for 90% of all federal basic research expenditures. Total federal research funding (the sum of basic and applied research) is projected to decline 2.6%, to $54.4 billion. This decline is due to a 6.6% drop in applied research funding. Some contend that the $1.8 billion decline in funding for applied research helped to pay for the ACI. Support for three federal, multiagency research initiatives would vary, with the National Nanotechnology Initiative proposed to decline 1.8% to $1.3 billion, primarily because DOD has not included FY2006 nanotechnology earmarks in its FY2007 nanotechnology request. Funding for the Networking and Information Technology R&D Initiative would increase 2.4% to $3.1 billion. ( The ACI contains increasing support for computer sciences and other information technology research.) Finally, support for the Climate Change Science Program would increase in FY2007 by 0.2% to $1.7 billion, after steep cuts in FY2006 due to declining NASA funding for space-based observations of the environment.
