Budget Supports Department of Commerce’s Investments in Supporting Economic Growth and Making Communities More Climate Resilient

The Biden-Harris Administration today submitted to Congress the President’s Budget for fiscal year 2023. The President’s 2023 Budget for the Department of Commerce makes historic investments to strengthen domestic supply chains through domestic manufacturing, help distressed communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, uplift minority-owned enterprises, and ensure that we have the tools needed to combat the climate crisis. These critical resources will also complement major investments in broadband internet access and climate resilience being made thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

In particular, this budget requests $11.7 billion in discretionary funding to support key Commerce Department priorities, including $372 million for the National Institutes of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) manufacturing programs, more than $150 million in new funding to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to create jobs and drive growth in economically distressed communities, $110 million to increase services for minority-owned enterprises at the Minority Business Development Agency, and nearly $7 billion in funding for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA to catalyze wind energy, restore habitats, protect the oceans and coasts, and improve NOAA’s ability to predict extreme weather associated with climate change).

“The President’s budget for the new fiscal year reflects the administration’s unwavering commitment to building a better America,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. “These historic investments, including $372 million to enhance the Commerce Department’s manufacturing programs and make America’s small and medium manufacturers more competitive, will help to create jobs, build a more resilient workforce and supply chains in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and increase American competitiveness in a 21^st century global economy.”

“We welcome these new investments to create more targeted advancements in equity and innovation across all sectors of our economy,” said Deputy Commerce Secretary Don Graves. “For example, the Commerce Department’s newly authorized Minority Business Development Agency now has the consequential investments it needs to provide specialized opportunities for businesses and communities that are overlooked far too often. These same communities, which often find themselves on the front lines in dealing with the impacts of climate change, will also benefit greatly from the billions of dollars being provided to NOAA to increase climate resiliency and help us plan for extreme weather events.”

The Budget makes critical investments in the American people that will help lay a stronger foundation for shared growth and prosperity for generations to come. At the Commerce Department, the Budget would:

• Strengthens the Nation’s Supply Chains through Domestic Manufacturing. To help ignite a resurgence of American manufacturing, the Budget provides $372 million, an in­crease of $206 million from the 2021 enacted level, for the National Institutes of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) manufacturing programs. These resources would fund five Manufacturing Innovation Institutes in 2023 as part of the Administration’s growing Manufacturing USA network, which brings together industry, academia, and Government to accelerate manufacturing in­novation and commercialization. The Budget also expands the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, providing an increase of $125 million to make America’s small and medium manufacturers more competitive and to ensure that the future is made in all of America by all of America’s workers. The Budget also provides $11 million to the International Trade Administration (ITA) to build analytical capacity in meeting new requirements on supply chain resilience across the manufacturing and services industries, as well as $5 million for the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to develop new data tools to measure American com­petitiveness in global supply chains.
• Revitalizes Coal Communities and Other Economically Distressed Communities. To foster investment and economic revitalization in communities impacted by the transi­tion from fossil fuel to a clean energy economy, the Budget provides more than $70 million in new funding to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to create jobs and drive growth in economically distressed communities. This funding would allow EDA to more than double its Assistance to Coal Communities initiative. The Budget also provides $50 million for an EDA pilot program to address structural prime-age employment gaps and boost competitiveness in persistently distressed communities through innovative, flexible, and locally-led grants.
• Supports Minority-Owned Business to Narrow Racial Wealth Gaps. The Budget el­evates the stature and increases the capacity of the Minority Business Development Agency by providing the full $110 million authorized in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This fund­ing would bolster services provided to minority-owned enterprises by expanding the Business Center program, funding Rural Business Centers, opening new regional offices, and support­ing innovative initiatives to foster economic resiliency.
• Creates New Markets for American Goods by Expanding Economic Engagement Abroad. The Budget provides an additional $26 million from the 2021 enacted level to bol­ster commercial diplomacy and enhance export promotion through a targeted expansion of the Foreign Commercial Service at the ITA. With this funding, Commerce would augment staff to assist American businesses seeking to increase exports abroad, navigate new foreign markets, or find market opportunities. These activities would focus on areas of high economic and geo­strategic value, including the Indo-Pacific.
• Responds to the Impacts of Climate Change and Extreme Weather. The Budget invests $6.9 billion in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an increase of $1.4 billion from the 2021 enacted level, supporting programs that would catalyze wind energy, restore habitats, protect the oceans and coasts, and improve NOAA’s ability to predict extreme weather associated with climate change. This includes $45 million to support NOAA’s role in deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, and a $30 million increase in funding for marine sanctuaries and other marine protected areas to assess and address climate change impacts. The Budget also supports the Administration’s America the Beautiful initiative, and $92 million for expanded climate competitive research grants. Through a bold investment of $2.3 billion in weather satellites, the Budget also provides a robust and predictable long-term funding strategy to develop new weather detection capabilities to help plan for extreme weather events.
• Safeguards America’s Burgeoning Space Industry. The Budget expands opportunities for civil space situational awareness and supports the long-term sustainability of the space environment by committing $88 million, a $78 million increase from the 2021 enacted level, for the Office of Space Commerce in order to improve real-time tracking and reporting of space objects and debris, helping the space industry safely navigate a congested space environment. The Budget also provides $2 million for BEA to develop new data tools to measure the space economy.
• Advances Key Emerging Technologies and U.S. Leadership in International Standards Development. The Budget supports U.S. industry competing in the global commu­nications market by providing $13 million for cutting-edge advanced communications research and engineering at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The Budget also includes a $187 million increase for research initiatives at NIST that would focus on developing standards to accelerate adoption of critical and emerging technologies with a focus on artificial intelligence, quantum science, and advanced biotechnologies. As part of this investment, the Budget includes an $8 million increase to strengthen U.S. leadership in inter­national standards development for critical and emerging technologies.
• Secures the American Economy and American’s Sensitive Data against Foreign Threats. The Budget strengthens the Nation’s national and economic security by protecting the information and communications technology (ICT) supply chain and improving the secu­rity of the commercial cyber ecosystem. This includes a $36 million increase to review ICT transactions that pose an undue risk to the United States, and an enforcement program to deter and mitigate foreign malicious cyber-enabled activities. The Budget also provides the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) with a $30 million increase to advance national secu­rity and secure trade by bolstering BIS’s ability to implement and enforce export controls. In addition, BIS monitors industrial base and supply chain trends with regard to critical and emerging technologies, such as microelectronics.
• Supports Evidence-Based Policymaking. The Budget supports evidence-based policy making and strengthens the ability of the Census Bureau to deliver reliable, high-quality data and innovative statistical products that improve understanding of the Nation’s people and economy. The Budget includes $412 million to finalize and evaluate the Decennial Census and lay the groundwork for a successful 2030 Census and $141 million for BEA to support the production of vital economic indicators like the gross domestic product. In 2023, BEA will transition the prototype Annual National and Annual State Distribution of Personal Income measures into regular production, providing policymakers and the public with crucial new information about how families across the income distribution spectrum are faring.

For more information on the President’s FY 2023 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/