Sequestration/Budget Addendum -- Federal Update for April 20, 2012

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has new analysis out on impacts that the recently passed House Budget Resolution will have on research and development (R&D). The analysis estimates potential R&D cuts based on House and Administration spending proposals, the automatic spending cuts in the Budget Control Act, and current R&D spending patterns, along with some assumptions.

According to AAAS:

"While these figures should be interpreted with caution due to the uncertainty involved, the analysis finds that the House budget could reduce total baseline spending in key budget accounts by 15 percent below the President's request, amounting to a 5 percent cut in nondefense R&D from the current year, without accounting for the across-the-board cuts scheduled to take place in January 2013. Factoring in these additional cuts, the House budget could yield reductions in total R&D of up to 12 percent below the current year, with nondefense R&D receiving a disproportionate amount of the cuts. Over the next decade, the House budget could reduce nondefense R&D by up to 27 percent, or $161 billion, below the President's request. While most research areas would receive sharp reductions, some - including clean energy - could be particularly hard hit."

Read the AAAS analysis at: http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/fy2013/HouseBudgetRDBrief.pdf.

(APLU and the UW System Office of Federal Relations contributed to this report.)