If grants are bad, contracts are much worse. Stagger proposal submission, renewal and reporting dates. Spring has become increasingly crowded with submissions, renewals and reports. We have had to drop work on new proposals at times, because of the barrage of renewals and reports due in the spring. Some agencies require additional information and paperwork to be done for renewals.
Renewals are often longer and more cumbersome than the original proposal.
No renewal should be more difficult than the original proposal. A flat rate across the board would be very good. Individual agency efforts to cap rates can also cause difficulties and inequities. When clinical faculty do research there is a huge opportunity cost incurred in some cases where the clinical faculty person or clinical staff person must reduce the number of patients they are treating and lose revenue. It is often difficult to increase personnel to cover for persons doing research.