AAAS analyzes federal R&D 2004 budget

Defense funding accounts for more than half of total R&D portfolio

Washington, D.C.- How will non-defense agencies cope with limited R&D funds, and how will the 2004 budget affect R&D for health and general science? In a time of imminent armed conflict and ever-growing fears of terrorism, the president’s proposed 2004 budget sees huge funding increases for defense research and development (R&D), but allows for only a mixture of flat funding, cuts, and modest increases for other areas of non-defense programs like medical research.

Kei Koizumi, Director of the AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program will present a detailed analysis of the President’s FY 2004 budget at the 28th Annual Colloquium for Science and Technology Policy in Washington, D.C.

The president has proposed to beef up the brand-new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with a $1.0 billion portfolio; a dramatic increase of almost 50 percent from the estimated 2003 level for comparable programs. At the same time, the Department of Defense (DOD), the largest federal sponsor of R&D, would see an increase of 7.1 percent to $62.8 billion in its R&D budget, with the intent that the entire increase amount go towards weapons systems development.

“Defense R&D, which includes DOD, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) defense activities and defense-related activities in the new DHS, would total 55 percent of the federal R&D portfolio in FY 2004,” Koizumi said.

On the non-defense side, however, many other agencies face leaner times down the road.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT), would all undergo R&D budget reductions, and the Department of Commerce would be required to eliminate two programs. R&D funding for DOD “Science and Technology” (S&T), which includes research, medical research, and technology development, would fall below even the 2002 funding level.

After years of favored treatment, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) may have to adjust to some belt-tightening as well. After a five-year doubling campaign involving 15 percent increases for each of the past five years, the NIH budget growth would slow to a mere 2.7 percent in FY 2004. And even though President Bush signed a bill in December that called for the NSF budget to double over five years, their funding allotment for 2004 is only a 3.2 percent increase (to $5.5 billion).

In the wake of the Columbia shuttle disaster, NASA’s budget would rise to $15.5 billion, however, Koizumi adds that the budget will have to be reallocated or augmented in the coming weeks because non-R&D programs, of which the largest is the Space Shuttle, would have higher priority.

As the FY 2004 budget now moves to Congress, the president faces Republican control in both chambers, making it much more likely than in past years that his FY 2004 proposal will be enacted in close to its proposed form. However, with the crisis in the Middle East, and a slow track-record for passing the 2003 budget, it may be months before we see the FY 2004 budget resolved.

For more information visit: http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd.

MEDIA NOTE: Kei Koizumi will present his report during the AAAS 28th Annual Science & Technology Policy Colloquium, at the Washington Plaza Hotel, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Thursday, 10 April 2003. The Washington Plaza Hotel is located 10 Thomas Circle, 14th and M, NW, Washington D.C. 3 blocks north of the McPherson Square Metro stop.

Address: Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle, 14th and M, NW, Washington D.C.

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