PRESS RELEASE: Innovation for America’s Economy, America’s Energy, and American Skills: The FY 2013 Science and Technology R&D Budget

                                                            Contact: Rick Weiss 202 456-6037 rweiss@ostp.eop.gov

                                                            Phil Larson 202 456-6043 plarson@ostp.eop.gov

Strategic Increases Will Jumpstart Innovation, Support Students, Advance Infrastructure; Tough Choices Made, Every Increase Offset by a Cut

Reflecting the Obama Administration’s continued recognition that science, technology, education, and innovation are central to America’s ongoing economic recovery and essential to the Nation’s future prosperity, the President’s Fiscal year (FY) 2013 Budget calls for strategic increases in the U.S. research and development (R&D) enterprise and a strong focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The President’s 2013 Budget achieves these important investments by identifying comparable offsets in other areas, resulting in a deficit-reducing discretionary budget that is frozen at 2011 levels for the second year in a row in compliance with the spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

The President’s 2013 Budget sustains the Administration’s commitment to building and fueling America’s engines of discovery in order to expand the frontiers of human knowledge; promote sustainable economic growth with a focus on advancing American manufacturing; cultivate a home-grown, clean-energy future; improve healthcare outcomes for all Americans at lower cost; address the mounting challenges of global climate change; manage competing demands on environmental resources; and reinforce national and homeland security.

“The priority the President attaches to R&D and STEM education, as reflected in his 2013 Budget, is justified by the historic truth that investments in innovation and education today will more than pay for themselves tomorrow,” said Dr. John P. Holdren, President Obama’s science and technology advisor and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “We owe it to our children and grandchildren to nourish the seeds of exploration and discovery that will, in the years ahead, grow into breakthroughs yielding new products, services, and jobs, new therapies and cures, and a better quality of life for all Americans.”

All told, the President’s 2013 Budget proposes $140.8 billion for Federal R&D, an increase of $2.0 billion or 1.4 percent over the 2012 enacted level. (All comparisons are to the FY 2012 budget as enacted, in current, not-adjusted-for-inflation dollars.) The Federal research portfolio—comprising basic and applied research—would total $64.0 billion, up $2.0 billion or 3.3 percent. And non-defense R&D would rise 5 percent to $64.9 billion. These increases are offset in part by reductions in Department of Defense (DOD) weapons-systems development activities as its programs mature and transition to the production phase.

In addition, the President’s 2013 science and technology budget:

• Sustains the growth of funding for three science agencies crucial to our Nation’s future competitiveness—the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratories, providing a total of $13.1 billion—an increase of 4.4 percent above 2012 funding levels


• Promotes Clean, American Energy by providing $350 million for transformational energy R&D in DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E); $2.3 billion for DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office, with a focus on clean- vehicle technologies; and $2.6 billion for the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) to understand, predict, mitigate, and adapt to the global changes that have resulted primarily from global over-dependence on fossil fuels


• Supports American Job Growth by providing $2.2 billion for advanced manufacturing R&D to focus on innovative manufacturing processes, advanced industrial materials, and robotics, and by encouraging greater Federal collaboration with universities and industry


• Prepares the Next Generation of Innovators by providing $3.0 billion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, with an unprecedented emphasis on evidence-based improvements in teaching and learning

Other R&D highlights in the President’s 2013 Budget (compared to FY 2012 enacted) include:

• $11.9 billion (up 8%) for DOE R&D, with $5 billion for its Office of Science (up 2.6%)
• $9.6 billion (up 2.2%) for National Aeronautics and Space Administration R&D
• $7.4 billion (up 4.8%) for NSF
• $2.6 billion (up 5.6%) for the U.S. Global Change Research Program
• $1.8 billion (up 4.1%) for the National Nanotechnology Initiative
• $729 million (up 26.3%) for Department of Homeland Security R&D
• $718 million (up 6.4%) for U.S. Geological Survey R&D
• $708 million (up 13.8%) for NIST’s intramural laboratories
• $580 million (up 2.1%) for Environmental Protection Agency R&D

Reflecting the tough choices required to keep total discretionary spending flat for the second year in a row, however, NIH funding is flat at $30.7 billion, USDA R&D is down 1.5% at $2.3 billion, Defense R&D is down 2.1% at $71.2 billion, and NOAA R&D is down 3.8% at $552 million.

Additional details can be found on fact sheets and other FY 2013 budget resources at http://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/ostp/rdbudgets.

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OSTP was created by Congress in 1976 to serve as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major policies, plans, and programs of the Federal government. For more information on OSTP, visit http://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/ostp