	Overview

The 112 th Congress continued to take a strong interest in the health of the U.S. research and development (R&D) enterprise and in providing support for federal R&D activities in the course of the FY2012 appropriations process. As Congress acted to complete the FY2012 appropriations process it faced two overarching issues: the extent to which the federal R&D investment can grow in the context of increased pressure on discretionary spending and how available funding will be prioritized and allocated. President Obama's proposed FY2012 budget, released on February 14, 2011, included $147.911 billion for R&D in FY2012, a 0.5% increase over the actual FY2010 R&D funding level of $147.139 billion. Adjusted for inflation, the President's FY2012 R&D request represented a decrease of 2.2% from the FY2010 level. Moreover, aggregate FY2011 funding for the targeted accounts was approximately $12.280 billion, $1.101 billion less than authorized in the act, setting a pace to double over 16 years from the FY2006 level—more than twice the length of time originally envisioned in the 2007 America COMPETES Act and about a third longer than the doubling period established by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010. In FY2012 President Obama sought funding for the targeted accounts that would have increased aggregate funding to $13.947 billion, an increase of $1.667 billion (13.6%) above the FY2011 (actual) aggregate funding level of $12.323 billion. 112-55 provided $7.033 billion. 2055 , the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012, which was signed into law ( P.L. 112-74 ) by President Obama on December 23, 2011. 112-74 includes the nine regular appropriations bills that had yet to be enacted: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2012 (as Division A); the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2012 (as Division B); the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2012 (as Division C); the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2012 (as Division D); the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012 (as Division E); the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012 (as Division F); the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2012 (as Division G); the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012 (as Division H); and the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2012 (as Division I). Earlier, on November 17, 2011, Congress completed action on the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 ( P.L. 112-55 ), which combined into a single measure three regular appropriations bills: the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Act, as H.R. 2112 , Division B; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Act, as H.R. 2112 , Division C. President Obama signed the bill into law two days later. Previously, Congress passed and the President signed two bills, both titled the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, that provided continuing appropriations for all agencies for FY2012. 112-33 extended agency funding through October 4, 2011; P.L. 112-10 . FY2012 President's Budget Request. Other Funding Mechanisms. Among other things, P.L. As initially passed by the Senate, H.R. 2596 , 32.1% below the Administration's budget request, and 9.3% below the FY2011 appropriation. In President Obama's FY2011 budget, the timeframe for doubling slipped to 11 years and his FY2012 budget was intentionally silent on a timeframe for doubling. Prior to enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 ( P.L. The FY2012 request for FHWA R&D funding was $548 million, an increase of $95 million (20.9%) over FY2010.
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.