These proposals will help working families feel more secure with paychecks that go further, help American workers upgrade their skills so they can compete for higher-paying jobs, and help create the conditions for our businesses to keep generating good new jobs for our workers to fill, while also fulfilling our most basic responsibility to keep Americans safe. We will make these investments, and end the harmful spending cuts known as sequestration, by cutting inefficient spending and reforming our broken tax code to make sure everyone pays their fair share. We can do all this while also putting our Nation on a more sustainable fiscal path. The Budget achieves about $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction, primarily from reforms to health programs, our tax code, and immigration.
The U.S. Commerce Department plays a critical role in promoting U.S. economic growth and providing vital scientific and environmental information. To support this mission across its diverse bureaus, the Budget provides $9.8 billion in discretionary funding for Commerce. This funding level will enable key investments in areas such as promotion of exports and foreign investment; development of weather satellites; wireless and broadband access; and research and development to support long-term economic growth. At the same time, efficiency gains, such as streamlining operations in the Census Bureau and reductions in lower-priority activities enable Commerce to achieve administrative and programmatic savings.
This includes: Supporting 21st Century Economic Development. The Budget invests $273 million for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to support innovative economic development planning, regional capacity building, and capital projects. Within this amount, $25 million is included for the Regional Innovation Strategies Program to promote economic development projects that spur entrepreneurship and innovation at the regional level. The EDA Budget also includes $39 million for Partnership Planning to support local organizations with their long-term economic development planning efforts and outreach. Additionally, $53 million is provided for Economic Adjustment Assistance for critical investments such as economic diversification planning, and implementation, technical assistance, and access to business start-up facilities and equipment. Finally, the Budget also includes an additional $8 million to bolster EDA’s role in coordinating federal economic development programs and expand their on the ground presence to local communities through planning and technical assistance.
Supports the Digital Economy. The Budget demonstrates the Administration’s continued commitment to broadband telecommunications as a driver of economic development, job creation, technological innovation, and enhanced public safety. The President’s broadband vision—supported by the Budget— of freeing up 500 MHz of Federal spectrum, promoting broadband competition in communities throughout the country, and connecting over 99 percent of schools to high-speed broadband connections through the ConnectED initiative will create thousands of quality jobs and ensure that students have access to the best educational tools available. The Budget supports implementation of telecommunications provisions enacted in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which will reduce the deficit by more than $40 billion over the next 10 years through spectrum auctions. These auctions will increase commercial access to wireless broadband spectrum while fully funding the interoperable public safety and first responder broadband network. Finally, the Budget highlights the Administration’s commitment to cybersecurity by supporting NIST’s efforts to work with industry on implementing the Cybersecurity Framework of standards and best practices, as well as sustaining initiatives associated with cybersecurity automation, cybersecurity information, and the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC).
Spurs Innovation for American Businesses. Through implementation of the America Invents Act, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) continues to make it easier for American entrepreneurs and businesses to bring their inventions to the marketplace sooner, converting ideas into new products and new jobs. The Budget supports a program level of $3.5 billion for USPTO, a level that would allow USPTO to fund operations and to further implement administrative actions proposed by the President’s Patent Task Force.
Invests in an Efficient and Effective 2020 Decennial Census. The Budget provides $1.5 billion to support key research and testing of innovative design methods necessary to complete a cost-effective 2020 Decennial Census. This funding is crucial to achieve the goal of conducting a Census at a lower cost per household than in the 2010 Census, potentially saving up to $5 billion compared to the costs of repeating the 2010 Census design. The Budget also includes a planned cyclical increase for the Economic Census. In keeping with the Federal Digital Strategy, the Census Bureau has set a goal to unlock the potential of our data and products to better meet the needs of our users. This Budget includes funding to enable users such as businesses, policy makers, and the American public to make better data-driven decisions based on credible statistics, easy-to-use tools, and standardized data elements.
Gathering and Acting on Environmental Intelligence. The Department’s environment agenda aims to help communities and businesses prepare for and prosper in a changing environment. The Budget provides $6.0 billion to advance the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) ability to understand and anticipate changes in the Earth’s environment, improve society’s ability to make scientifically informed decisions, deliver vital services to the economy and public safety, and conserve and manage ocean and coastal ecosystems and resources.
The Budget provides $957 million for the National Marine Fisheries Service and $551 million for the National Ocean Service, including $50 million for an expanded competitive Regional Coastal Resilience Grants Program to help reduce the risks and impacts associated with extreme weather events and changing ocean conditions and uses. The Budget also provides $2.2 million, as part of a $20 million interagency investment, to expand the Climate Resilience Toolkit, giving communities and practitioners valuable tools and information that can help them plan for and mitigate the impacts of climate change. To better understand the impacts of increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide on ocean chemistry and marine resources, the Budget includes $30 million for a significantly expanded ocean acidification research program at NOAA.
The Budget invests in NOAA’s observational infrastructure, including $2 billion to fully fund the next generation of weather and environmental satellites. This includes $380 million for the Polar Follow-On satellite, allowing for an optimal launch schedule to help minimize the risk of any potential gap in weather data. The Budget also includes $147 million to begin construction of an Ocean Survey Vessel to bolster an aging fleet of ships that will be reduced by half by 2028 without further investment.
The Department continues its commitment to support a Weather-Ready Nation, and evolve the National Weather Service to become a more agile decision support organization capable of providing more accurate and more timely weather forecasts. The Budget invests $1.1 billion for the National Weather Service, including funding increases for critical infrastructure.
Integrates Innovative Best Practices into Core Agency Operations. To further the President’s goals of improving customer service and enhancing the efficiency of government, Commerce requests $6 million to support a Commerce Digital Services team to adopt private sector best practices and recruit talent to improve Commerce’s information technology systems. This team will be responsible for driving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Agency’s highest impact, client focused information technology systems. In addition, the Budget includes $3 million to support the development of an Idea Lab, which will house a team dedicated to incubating and investing in innovative approaches to more efficiently and effectively meet Agency strategic goals and objectives through greater employee engagement.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
