Federal Research and Development Funding: FY2012 (CRS Report for Congress)
Premium Purchase PDF for $24.95 (61 pages)
add to cart or
subscribe for unlimited access
Pro Premium subscribers have free access to our full library of CRS reports.
Subscribe today, or
request a demo to learn more.
| Release Date |
Revised April 6, 2012 |
| Report Number |
R41706 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
John F. Sargent Jr., Robert Esworthy, Heather B. Gonzalez, Christine M. Matthews, Daniel Morgan, John D. Moteff, Wendy H. Schacht, Pamela W. Smith, Harold F. Upton |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
-
Premium Revised Jan. 26, 2012 (61 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised Dec. 1, 2011 (57 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised Oct. 11, 2011 (54 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised Aug. 19, 2011 (54 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium Revised June 21, 2011 (50 pages, $24.95)
add
-
Premium March 29, 2011 (49 pages, $24.95)
add
|
Summary:
Federal research and development (R&D) funding for FY2012 is estimated to total $138.869 billion, $3.845 billion (-2.7%) below the FY2011 funding level of $142.714 billion, and $9.042 billion (-6.1%) below the President's request of $147.911 billion. Among the overarching issues that Congress contended with in the FY2012 appropriations process were the extent to which the federal R&D investment could grow in the context of increased pressure on discretionary spending and how available funding would be prioritized and allocated. The appropriations legislation was incorporated into two bills, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (P.L. 112-55) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (P.L. 112-74). P.L. 112-55, included the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Act; the Commerce, Justice, State and Related Agencies Act; and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Act, and was passed by Congress on November 17, 2011, and signed into law two days later. P.L. 112-74, incorporating the nine remaining appropriations bills, was passed by Congress on December 17, 2011, and signed into law by President Obama on December 23, 2011. Prior to enactment of these bills, government operations into FY2012 were funded through a series of continuing appropriations acts.
President Obama requested $147.911 billion for R&D in FY2012, a $772 million (0.5%) increase from the FY2010 actual R&D funding level of $147.139 billion. At the time the President's FY2012 budget was released, action had not been completed on FY2011 full-year funding so the President's budget compared the FY2012 request to FY2010 appropriations. On April 15, 2011, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (P.L. 112-10) was signed into law. Division A of the act provided FY2011 appropriations for the Department of Defense; Division B provided full-year continuing funding for FY2011 for all other agencies at their FY2010 levels unless otherwise specified in the act.
President Obama's request sought increases in the R&D budgets of the three agencies targeted for doubling over 7 years by the America COMPETES Act, and over 10 years by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 and by President Bush under his American Competitiveness Initiative, as measured using FY2006 funding as the baseline. Although President Obama supported a 10-year doubling in his FY2010 budget, his FY2012 budget was intentionally silent on a timeframe. Congress appropriated $12.529 billion in FY2012 for the targeted accounts, an increase of $207 million (1.7%) over FY2011 funding of $12.323 billion, and $1.417 billion (-10.2%) less than the President's request.
For more than a decade, federal R&D has been affected by mechanisms used to continue appropriations in the absence of enactment of regular appropriations acts and to complete the annual appropriations process. Completion of appropriations after the beginning of a fiscal year may cause agencies to delay or cancel some planned R&D and equipment acquisition.
