35 



10 /IAtPROVJ.\C THE ALLOCATION PROCESS 



Boxl.l 



Priority Setting and Determining FS&T Budgets at the Presidential Level: 



How It Might Work 



At the beginning of the budget cycle, the President, with advice from the Director of the 

 Office of Management and Budget and the President's Science and Technology Advisor, ' de- 

 cides on the aggregate level of funding for federal science and technology (FS&T) across the 

 government that will maintain a leadership role for the United States and preserve the abilit>' of 

 agencies to perform their missions. Guidance is sent to agencies listing presidential priorities, 

 including trade-offs and reallocations across agencies that reflect these priorities, as well as 

 crises, opportimities, or evaluations. An extract of the President's budget message to Congress 

 might read: "The federal science and technology budget is $XX billion dollars. Although this 

 represents a reduction of $X billion, international comparisons show that it will enable us to 

 maintain a world-class position in fundamental science and technolog)' and a leadership posi- 

 tion in the selea fields of A, B, and C. The budget reduction was achieved by beginning to 

 close and merge X federal laboratories and federally funded research and development centers 

 (TFFRDCs) as recommended by the laboratory<losing commission, and shuning down other 

 programs no longer necessary or of poor quality'. Within this budget reduction, I am recom- 

 mending increases in handing for the physical sciences at the National Science Foundation: 

 material sciences at federal laboratories, FFRDCs, and university materials research centers; 

 research on the causes of violence at the National Science Foundation and on interventions to 

 prevent it at the National Institute of Mental Health; research on genetic originio/ disease at 

 the National Institutes of Health; and microelectronics and sensor development in the Depart- 

 ment of Defense programs. These initiatives will meet mission needs and contribute to the 

 nation's overall strength in science and technology. ..." 



'The Science and Technology Advisor has a variety of mechanisms to learn about opportunities to in- 

 crease or decrease program budgets: the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, 

 the National Science and Technology Council, and meetings with scientists and engineers from universi- 

 ties, federal laboratories, and industry, as well as meetings with science ministers from other countries 



RECOMMEIVDATION 2. Departments and agencies should make 

 FS&T allocation decisions based on clearly articulated criteria 

 that are congruent with those used by the Executive Office of the 

 President and by Congress. 



Examples of impoitant questions to be considered by fedei^l depanments and 

 agencies in allocating FS&T funding include the following (see Box 1.2 for a descrip- 

 tion of how the process might work): 



• Does the program under consideration contribute significantly to the 

 agency's mission? 



• Are there major new opportunities for research and development within the 

 purview of this agency that should be proposed? 



