Sequestration Guidance as of May 2013
On March 1, 2013, a memorandum (M-13-06) was sent to the heads of
executive departments and agencies. President Obama has issued a sequestration
order in accordance with section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act, as amended (BBEDCA), 2 U.S.C. 901a. The sequestration
requires a cancellation in the amount of $85 billion in budgetary resources
across the Federal Government for the remainder of FY 2013. FY 2012 awards will
unlikely be affected by the sequestration. Different federal agencies will be
reviewing their options to re-scope, delay, or cancel awards in order to meet
the sequestration requirements on FY 2013 awards. The decisions will all depend
on the nature of the work and the availability of resources. We will add
information to this document as we receive it. However, should you have any
questions or receive communication from your sponsor in regards to your award,
please contact your Grant Specialist or the Office of Grant and Contract Services to manage the award going forward.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) -5.5%
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NIH
received approximately $29.5 billion for FY 2013, which is a decrease of
approximately 5.5% from last year. As
a result of this budget reduction of $1.71 billion, NIH expects to fund 8,283
new and competing research grants this year, a drop of 703 grants. Including
ongoing (already awarded) grants that are ending, the total number of
research grants will drop by 1,357 to 34,902 awards. NIH will try to keep the size of the
average award consistent with 2012 and will not award inflationary increases
for future years. The agency also
expects to trim continuing grants.
Grants that were cut up to 10% earlier this year because of budget
uncertainty may be partially restored, but probably not to the original
commitment level.
NIH
plans to implement sequestration can be found here:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-13-064.html
More
information on funding cuts at the Institute and Center level can be found
here: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/FY%202013%20NIH%20Mechanism%20Tables.pdf
More information:
http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2013/nih-03.htm
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National Science Foundation (NSF) -2.1%
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NSF
received $6.884 billion in FY 2013, which is a decrease of approximately 2.1%
from last year. In implementing the
sequestration, the agency intends to maintain existing awards, protect NSF
staff, and protect STEM human capital development programs. The major impact of sequestration will be
seen in reductions to the number of new research grants and cooperative
agreements awarded in FY 2013. The
agency anticipates that the total number of new research grants will be
reduced by approximately 1,000. In
keeping with the first core principle listed above, and to assure continuity
and minimize disruption of scientific research, all continuing grant
increments in FY 2013 will be awarded as scheduled and there will be no
impact on existing NSF standard grants.
The same intent applies to annual increments for cooperative
agreements, though overall funding constraints may require reductions to
certain major investments. These will
be handled on a case-by-case basis.
How NSF
plans to implement sequestration can be found here:
http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/ht-full.cfm?method=hearings.download&id=b6f004dc-9f6c-4d7a-b5df-53afccc05664
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Department of Energy (DOE) -4.4%
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DOE
R&D programs received a reduction of approximately $479 million in FY
2013, which is a decrease of about 4.4% from last year. As a result, the agency predicts that there
will be significant cuts to the basic science mission, including curtailment
of operations affecting 25,000 researchers and operational personnel. Research grants will be reduced in number
and size, and the pipeline of support for graduate and post-graduate research
fellowships will be constricted.
ARPA-E expects to administer cuts to new awards. Existing awards from ARPA-E would see no
impact from sequestration.
DOE has
not yet released funding cuts to individual R&D programs and
activities. That information is
expected to be released to the public in the coming weeks.
More
information on DOE plans to implement sequestration can be found here: http://www.appropriations.senate.gov/ht-full.cfm?method=hearings.download&id=2959bd54-8f74-4b9b-8cd9-2771f20c19b4
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Department of Education (DoED) -5.23%
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DoED
received a reduction of approximately $2.5 billion in FY 2013, which is a
decrease of about 5.23% from last year.
Under current law, Pell Grants are exempt from across-the-board cuts
in academic year 2013-2014. However, Pell Grants will be subject to cuts in
future years. Student loans will see
small increases in origination fees for loans made after the sequester order. Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
(SEOG) will be cut by $37 million and Federal Work Study will be cut by $49
million. Funding will continue to be
awarded through existing SEOG and FWS formulas. In addition, there will be cuts in mandatory
funds for the administration of federal financial aid programs, which will
affect the servicing of student loans by the servicers that contract with the
federal government. Funding for other services, such as FAFSA processing,
Pell Grant disbursements, loan originations, and other tasks, may also be
reduced. The agency also expects to
scale back the number of new competitive grants rather than reduce existing
grants and continuation grants (however, there will be some reductions to
continuation grants).
More
information on DoED plans to implement sequestration can be found here: http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/testimony-secretary-arne-duncan-senate-appropriations-committee-possible-impact-seques
More
information on funding cuts to individual programs within the DoED can be
found here:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget13/13action.pdf
More
information on funding cuts to individual programs within the DoED by state
can be found here:
http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/statetables/14stbyprogram.pdf
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