2010-08-16
In
preparation to adjourn for its August district work period, Congress made
significant progress in advancing bills to fund the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) in fiscal year (FY) 2011.
On July 29,
the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY 2011 Labor, Health and Human
Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The Senate bill recommends just
over $32 billion to fund biomedical research at NIH, an amount equal to the President's request and the amount contained in a bill approved by the House Subcommittee on July 15. The Committee
rejected, by a vote of 28-2, an amendment proposed by Senator Arlen Specter to
add another $1 billion to the NIH budget by applying an across-the-board cut to
other programs in the bill.
Below is a
summary of the proposed budget numbers for Institutes of particular interest to
ASH:
National
Institutes of Health Funding (Dollars
in Millions)
|
|
FY 2011
Senate Appropriations Committee
|
FY 2011
House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee
|
FY 2011
Proposed (Obama Administration)
|
FY 2010
Final
|
NIH
(total)
|
32,007
|
32,007
|
32,007
|
31,005
|
NHLBI
|
3,183
|
Not Yet
Available
|
3,188
|
3,095
|
NCI
|
5,256
|
Not Yet
Available
|
5,265
|
5,100
|
NIDDK
|
2,005
|
Not Yet Available
|
2,008
|
1,957
|
NIA
|
1,142
|
Not Yet
Available
|
1,142
|
1,110
|
NCRR
|
1,307
|
Not Yet
Available
|
1,309
|
1,268
|
The full
Senate will not vote on the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill before September.
Additionally, the House Appropriations Committee has not yet announced a
timeframe for consideration of its version of the Labor-HHS bill. With a
month-long district work period scheduled for August, it remains unlikely that
the appropriations process will be completed by the start of the new fiscal
year on October 1. As a result, Congress would have to implement what is known
as a continuing resolution that would simply fund the government at current
levels to avoid a government shut-down.
ASH will
continue its advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill during the FY 2011 budget debate
and encourages all members to visit the ASH Advocacy Center to join the Society’s campaign
to support increased funding for NIH. Your senators and representatives need to
hear from you about ensuring adequate NIH funding in FY 2011.
Additional information
about the proposed FY 2011 budget is available on the ASH website. ASH will also continue to
keep its membership informed about each step in the debate toward the
completion of the FY 2011 federal budget, with frequent updates posted on the
Society's website. In the meantime, if you have questions, please contact ASH Research
Advocacy Manager Tracy Roades at 202-776-0544 or troades@hematology.org.
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