SSTI Digest

FY16 enacted funding is used for NASA comparisons, unless otherwise noted.
Under the president’s FY17 budget request, NASA would receive $19 billion (1.6 percent decrease). For a number of programs, FY16 comparisons are unavailable because NASA’s FY16 operation plan has not been finalized. Priority items in the NASA budget include the development of technologies that make future space programs more affordable and capable, continued support for the Webb Telescope, and developments to catalyze growth in the American commercial space industry.

The proposed budget would allocate $5.6 billion (0.2 percent increase) for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, which supports research science, invests in advanced technologies, supports over 90 space missions, and maintains partnerships with a dozen other federal agencies and 60 other nations. Funding would include:

Enacted FY16 funding levels are used for comparisons unless otherwise noted.
Small Business Administration (SBA) funding in the president’s FY17 budget request totals $719 million (1 percent increase), excluding Stafford Act Disaster Funding. Within that total, $230.6 million (level funding) is provided for counseling and technical assistance for entrepreneurs. Another $152.7 million (level funding) is provided for SBA’s loan programs. In FY16, the agency’s 504 loan guarantee program became zero subsidy, eliminating a larger portion of the appropriation for SBA’s business loan programs, but not impacting programmatic activities in FY17.

SBA would administer $46 billion through its now-zero subsidy loan programs. Credit programs include:

The president’s FY17 budget proposal includes requests for four regional commissions, which work to develop the economies of economically distressed regions. 

Estimated FY16 funding is used for comparisons unless otherwise noted.
The president’s FY17 budget request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is $48.9 billion, a 4 percent increase. Priority funding items within HUD include rental housing assistance, ending homelessness, supporting tribal communities, and improving mobility for low-income families.

The Community Development Fund, which includes the Community Development Block Program, would receive $6.8 billion (5 percent decrease). Of this amount, $2.8 billion (20 percent decrease) would go to community development formula grants that assist state and local governments in addressing community and economic development activities.

Enacted FY16 funding is used for comparisons unless otherwise noted.
The president’s FY17 budget request of $8.3 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reflects a 1.6 percent increase from the FY16 enacted budget. The main priority goals identified by the agency are to: reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks; advance resilience in the nation’s water infrastructure; clean up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of communities; assess and reduce risks posed by chemicals; and, strengthen environmental protection through business process improvements.

Science and Technology programs under the EPA would receive $754.2 million, an increase of 2.7 percent. Areas of EPA research that would receive funding under the proposed budget include:

Enacted FY16 funding is used for the Department of Transportation comparisons, unless otherwise noted.
The president’s FY17 budget request for the Department of Transportation (DOT) totals $98.1 billion (35.5 percent increase), including a vision to build a clean transportation system for the 21st century. Notable investments in research and development from the Department of Transportation include:

Last week, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo proposed more than $51 million in investments focused on reinvigorating the state’s economy through innovative industries with the release of her fiscal year 2017 budget request. The governor’s Make It in RI jobs plan incorporates many of the recommendations from a strategic plan developed by the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, Battelle Technology Partnership Practice (now TEConomy Partners, LLC) and Monitor Deloitte. One of the key investments is a $20 million brick-and-mortar innovation district where entrepreneurs, businesspeople and academics can interact.

Enacted FY16 funding levels are used for comparisons unless otherwise noted.
Proposed FY17 funding for the Department of the Treasury totals $13.3 billion (5.3 percent increase) in discretionary funds, with an additional $2.3 billion for international assistance programs. Much of the increase in funding is attributable to a major investment in cybersecurity under a new $109.8 million initiative. The Treasury request also includes $250 million toward the U.S. pledge to the Green Climate Fund, which would be combined with another $500 million through the Department of State.

Enacted FY16 funding levels are used for comparisons unless otherwise noted.
 The president’s FY17 budget request for the Department of the Interior (DOI) would provide $13.4 billion (0.5percent increase) in discretionary funding. DOI’s primary research agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) would receive $1.2 billion (10.1 percent increase). With the proposed funding levels, DOI would participate in cross-agency initiatives related to Arctic research, water infrastructure, clean energy, climate change and economic realignment for coal communities.

USGS collaborates with federal, state and tribal partners to conduct research and provide scientific data concerning natural hazards and environmental issues, including water, land, geological and biological resources. Almost all of USGS’s funding is devoted to its Surveys, Investigations and Research activities. Research programs include:

Enacted FY16 funding is used for comparisons unless otherwise noted.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) would receive $29 billion in FY17 discretionary funding under the president’s budget request, a 1 percent increase.

For the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), the budget request for FY17 totals $4.2 billion (14.7 percent decreases with $154 million for Research, Evaluation, and Statistics activities. The appropriation for Research, Evaluation, and Statistics activities includes programs that provide grants, contracts and cooperative agreements for research, development and evaluation; development and dissemination of quality statistical and scientific information; and, nationwide support for law enforcement agencies. Of this amount, $48 million (33.3 percent increase) is requested for research, development and evaluation efforts under the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), which serves as the R&D agency of DOJ.  Key funding areas included in the FY17 budget proposal for NIJ:

Enacted FY16 funding is used for comparisons unless otherwise noted.
The administration’s FY17 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is $40.6 billion (0.9 percent decrease) in non-disaster, net discretionary funding, excluding disaster-relief funding. The proposed budget would include $471.1 million to support the National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS), commonly referred to as EINSTEIN, to continue to combat intrusions, enhance information sharing, and deploy analytical capabilities to secure the Federal civilian information technology enterprise. DHS also would commit $274.8 million for the Continuous Diagnostic and Mitigation program to provide hardware, software, and services design to support activities that strengthen the operation security of federal networks.

Enacted FY16 funding is used for comparisons unless otherwise noted.
In FY17, the president is $32.5 billion (9.8 percent increase) for the Department of Energy (DOE), with $12.9 billion (27.7 percent increase) to be used to support science, energy and related programming. Of the $7.7 billion in FY17 proposed across 12 government agencies for Mission Innovation investments, $5.9 billion, or 76 percent, would go to DOE. Examples of DOE Mission Innovation projects that would receive funding under the proposed budget include: