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The president’s FY15 budget request would provide $23.7 billion (12 percent decrease) in discretionary funding for the Department of Agriculture (USDA). The proposed budget would launch three new multidisciplinary agricultural research institutes dedicated to crop science, advanced biobased manufacturing, and anti-microbial resistance research, and double funding for rural broadband access. Through the president’s Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative, additional funding would be provided for natural resource conservation programs and the construction of a new national biosafety research laboratory.

The administration’s FY15 budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is $77.1 billion in discretionary spending, reflecting a 1.6 percent decrease from FY14 enacted funding levels. Discretionary spending accounts for only 7.5 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 FY14 budget authority for HHS would be $1 trillion (6 percent increase over FY14 enacted).

The president’s FY15 budget request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is $47.7 billion, a 2.6 percent increase. The administration’s Growth, Opportunity and Security Initiative proposes $280 million for HUD to support comprehensive revitalization in high-poverty neighborhoods and for the Promise Zones Initiative.

The president’s FY15 budget request of $7.9 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reflects a 3.8 percent decrease from FY14 enacted. However, funding for science and technology programs would increase by 0.6 percent under the budget proposal. Priority funding areas for EPA R&D in FY15 include research in potential endocrine disrupting chemicals, human health risk assessment, air quality, sustainable approaches to environmental protection, and safe drinking water.

The administration’s FY15 budget request for the Small Business Administration (SBA) is $710 million. Of this amount, $47.5 million is for business loan subsidy and $197.8 million is for non-credit programs. Through the Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative the administration also proposes public-private investment funding to support the scaling-up of new advanced manufacturing firms into full-scale commercial production.

The president’s FY15 budget proposal for the National Science Foundation (NSF) would provide $7.3 billion (1.2 percent increase). Of that amount, $5.8 billion (no change) would be designated for research and related activities, $200.8 million (0.4 percent increase) for R&D facilities and equipment, and $889.8 million (5.2 percent increase) for education and training. Nearly 90 percent of NSF funding is awarded through a merit review process that includes distribution of grants and cooperative agreements.

The president’s FY15 budget request for NASA totals $17.5 billion in discretionary funding and prioritizes research and development that has the potential to bolster long-term space exploration. Major priorities of the proposed budget include extending the life of the International Space Station to 2024 and institutionalizing partnerships with the commercial space industry.

The administration’s FY15 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is $38.2 billion (2 percent decrease) in non-disaster, net discretionary funding, excluding disaster relief funding. The proposed budget includes funding for major asset acquisitions, including $300 million for completing the construction of the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility. The proposed budget also includes $549 million to support the EINSTEIN intrusion, detection, and prevention cybersecurity system.

The administration’s FY15 budget request in discretionary funding for the Department of Energy (DOE) is $27.9 billion (1 percent decrease from FY14), of which $12.3 billion would support R&D (8.4 percent increase) and $4.2 billion would support investment in the Department’s applied energy sector programs to drive an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy sector innovation. The proposed budget would provide substantial increases for funding advanced manufacturing and clean energy R&D.

The FY15 budget request for the Department of Defense (DOD) would provide $495.6 billion (0.1 percent decrease) in discretionary base funding. DOD is proposing a strategic rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region as the war in Afghanistan nears an end, while also maintaining a military presence and engagement with allies and partners in the greater Middle East. The budget supports this adjustment and makes strategic investments in areas identified as priorities, such as increasing security challenges and opportunities in cyberspace, continuing to invest in R&D to feed innovation in both the military and civilian sectors, and combating terrorism.

The FY15 budget request for the Department of Education (ED) totals $68.6 billion (1.9 percent increase) in total discretionary funding. An overhaul of P-12 STEM education programs and a ConnectED initiative providing next-generation broadband and high-speed wireless network support to students and teachers are among the new proposals.

The administration’s FY15 budget request for the Department of the Interior (DOI) would provide $11.7 billion (0.3 percent increase) in discretionary funding. DOI would receive $888.7 million (7.3 percent increase) for research and development activities. Of the proposed R&D budget, $94.8 million (3.5 percent increase) would be allocated to DOI’s Powering Our Future initiative, which supports renewable energy projects on federal lands and waters.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) would receive $27.4 billion in FY15 discretionary funding under the president’s budget request, a 0.4 percent increase.

The president’s FY15 budget request for the Department of Transportation (DOT) totals $90.8 billion (25.7 percent increase), including the first installment of $73.6 billion for a $302.3 billion four-year surface transportation reauthorization proposal that would improve U.S. surface transportation systems. DOT would be allocated $865 million to support research and development (R&D) efforts across the department. Several administrations under DOT would see limited change in their R&D budgets. Funding for various research and development initiatives include:

The administration’s FY14 request for the Department of the Treasury’s domestic programs is $13.8 billion (9.2 percent increase). Under the proposed budget, Treasury would continue to fund programs focused on economic development, small business support, and job creation.

The president’s FY15 budget request for the Department of Commerce (DOC) totals $8.8 billion in discretionary funding (6.9 percent increase over FY14 enacted), with increased funding for most agencies and programs related to research, technology transfer, advanced manufacturing and regional economic development. The department would play a key role in the administration’s Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative (OGSI), managing the planned expansion of the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) to include 45 institutes over the next 10 years.

While President Obama’s FY15 budget request is unlikely to find much support in Congress this year, the document has traditionally served as a useful guide to the administration’s priorities and to federal programs related to research, regional economic development, manufacturing, entrepreneurship and STEM education.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has conducted a Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development for fiscal years 2010-12. In total, federal R&D obligations were $144.7 billion in FY10. The top state recipients, in absolute terms, are California ($28.3 billion, representing 19.6% of the national total), Maryland ($17.0 billion, 11.8%), Virginia ($9.3 billion, 6.4%), Massachusetts ($8.9 billion, 6.1%), and Texas ($7.3 billion, 5.0%).

The current federal FY13 budget under sequestration will reduce the funding level for state aid by $5.1 billion from FY12, according to the study by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank focusing on low- and middle-income labor and economic policy.

Each year, SSTI provides Digest readers with a comprehensive review of technology-based economic development spending in the the president's federal budget request. The year's edition includes proposed FY14 spending on R&D, STEM education, manufacturing, broadband, small business support, technology transfer, entrepreneurship, innovation workforce initiatives and more.

The full report is available for download in pdf format (626 kb).

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a breakdown of federal research and development (R&D) funding by research area. The report includes FY10 spending, FY11 preliminary spending levels and proposed FY12 levels. In 2010, national defense led the list of research priorities, receiving 59 percent of all U.S. R&D spending. Health research captured another 21.5 percent of spending. NSF provides tables for each research area that separate spending by federal agency and program.

This week, both the U.S. House and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science and related agencies (CJS) approved FY13 funding legislation supporting several key TBED agencies.