Congressional Budget Office Report Lists Options for R&D Spending Cuts

“Federal policymakers face a difficult set of challenges in 1995,” is the opening sentence of a 435-page report recently released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Although this report, “Reducing the Deficit: Spending and Revenue Options,” is a fixture of the budget process, it is more likely to receive attention this spring as the House and Senate look for ways to cut spending.

The CBO, established in 1974, has a staff of budget specialists and economists. It plays a vital, if low-key, role in tracking bills from the budgetary perspective. There are 216 specific policy options in this report, which has been issued annually for the last 15 years. In the preface of the document, the CBO director notes that “this report has become a standard reference for developing deficit reduction plans.” The preface continues, “In accordance with CBO’s mandate to provide objective and impartial analysis, the discussion of each option presents the cases for and against it as fairly as possible. CBO does not endorse the options included, nor does exclusion of any proposal imply a recommendation.” Many of these options have been considered previously.

Since these are large numbers, it is important to note that CBO calculates “cumulative five-year savings” from the 1995 funding level both with and without an adjustment for inflation. Critics contend inflationary figures can be used to obscure spending, so CBO provided numbers which do not include an adjustment for inflation. These figures will be used below. CBO calculates that inflation will decrease real resources by approximately 14 percent over the next five years. All figures below are for outlays, the actual amount of money which the government spends during a year. Frequently, long-term projects require the government to spend money in a current year that was obligated in a previous year. Funding these commitments is where the cash crunch has been for some appropriations committees.

Among those options of interest to the physics community are the following. All figures are cumulative five-year savings in outlays and are not adjusted for inflation.

“Cancel the International Space Station Program;" $9,576 million.

“Scale Back and Delay NASA’s Earth Observation System,” from the Administration’s 1995 plan; $839 million.

“Reduce Department of Energy Funding for Energy Technology Development Efforts” is broken down by fossil energy R&D, nuclear energy R&D, fusion R&D, and energy conservation and solar and renewable energy R&D. CBO estimates a savings of $657 million for fusion R&D.

“Eliminate the Advanced Technology Program;" $1,504 million.

“Reduce the Overhead Rate on Federally Sponsored University Research,” which CBO calculated by freezing the 1995 funding level of over-all payments at 90 percent; $1,731 million.

“Reduce Spending for the High Performance Computing and Communications Program;" $1,565 million.

“Cut Spending for Dual-Use Technology Programs to Historical Levels;" $4,380 million.

To purchase a copy of the report, call the US Government Printing Office at 202-512-1800. ISBN 0-16-045518-9