NAS Report: Analyzing the Federal S&T Investment, FY 1994-97

Declining federal research budgets over the last four years may be having “a disproportionate impact...on fields of research other than health, such as the physical sciences, engineering, and the social sciences.” This is one finding highlighted in a January 16 report by the National Academy of Sciences: “The Federal Science and Technology Budget, FY 1997.” The 15-page document analyzes trends in federal spending for science and technology, in inflation-adjusted dollars, both for the past year and for the period from fiscal year 1994 to fiscal year 1997. While science and technology funding showed a slight increase in the past year, the report notes that this is not enough to offset a general decline since FY 1994.

This analysis follows up on a 1995 National Academy report entitled “Allocation of Federal Funds for Science and Technology” (see FYIs #171, 172, 1995.) To more precisely measure and analyze “the federal investment in new knowledge and new technologies,” that report called for defining a federal science and technology (FS&T) budget different than what is normally considered the nation’s R&D budget. FS&T funding would incorporate “activities that produce or expand use of new knowledge or new or enabling technologies,” but not include such R&D activities as testing or evaluation of weapons systems. Both documents were produced by panels chaired by former Presidential Science Advisor Frank Press. In his cover letter to the newly-released report, Press states, “This report is the first in a planned series of annual reports from the NAS that will analyze the President’s budget request and the final approved appropriations bills for trends in federal budgetary support for science and technology work.” Some of the report’s major findings are covered below:

Changes in FS&T appropriations from FY 1996 to FY 1997: - The report finds that “from FY 1996 to FY 1997, FS&T fared slightly better than the federal discretionary budget of which it is a part.” - The total FS&T appropriation for FY97, at about $43.4 billion, shows a 0.7 percent increase in constant dollars over the FY96 appropriation. - The FS&T budget for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) increased by 5.3 percent to almost $13 billion (NIH represents the majority of the HHS budget at more than $12 billion in FY97.) - Because HHS received a larger increase from FY96-97 than federal S&T funding as a whole, if its share is subtracted out, the rest of FS&T would show a decline of 1.2 percent. - Department of Commerce S&T grew 5.4 percent to $1.0 billion. - Department of Energy S&T increased 1.6 percent to $5.4 billion. - National Science Foundation S&T “received a nominal increase of $24 million,” which represents a loss of 1.2 percent after adjusting for inflation. - Department of Defense S&T overall was reduced by 1.1 percent, but basic research within DOD declined by 7.0 percent. Longer-Term Trends: FY 1994 - FY 1997: - In real terms, FS&T declined 5.0 percent from FY94 to FY97. - Of the departments and agencies included in the FS&T budget, only two - HHS and NSF - receive more funding now than they did in FY94. (HHS funding increased 8.1 percent over that period; NSF funding increased 1.8 percent.) - If HHS funding were subtracted out, the overall funding for federal S&T would show a drop of 9.7 percent from FY94-97. - Most of the remaining major R&D agencies have seen a decline in their S&T budgets from FY94-97: DOD S&T funding dropped 11.1 percent in constant dollars, while DOE S&T funding dropped almost 14 percent. The recent NAS report can be ordered, free of charge, from the Committee on Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Applications at (202) 334-3061, or it can be found on the World Wide Web in PDF format at: http://www.nas.edu/fsrd/fs&t.html

The NAS analysis of past budget trends provides a context in which to consider the President’s FY 1998 budget request to Congress, which was released yesterday. Upcoming FYIs will describe the requests for physics-related programs.