House Appropriations Committee Releases FY 2012 Funding Allocations, Including Huge Cut for Health Programs

2011-05-19

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) has released draft fiscal year (FY) 2012 allocations to be used by House subcommittees while drafting their versions of the 12 annual spending bills that fund federal programs and departments. The allocations are based on the limits established by the FY 2012 budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 34) that was adopted by the House in mid-April and caps discretionary spending at $1.019 trillion, a decrease of $30.4 billion (2.9 percent) from overall FY 2011 spending levels.

Under the draft House allocations, the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee would receive a $17 billion (3.3 percent) increase to $530 billion. This means the other 11 Appropriations subcommittees would be cut by a total of $47.4 billion (8.8 percent). The Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, which establishes annual funding levels for federal public health programs including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), would absorb the largest decrease, falling to $139.2 billion, a decrease of $18.2 billion (11.6 percent).

The Appropriations Committee has also released a schedule that is intended to make it possible for at least nine of the 12 spending bills to be considered on the House floor by August 5, when the House departs for a month-long recess. The Labor-HHS-Education bill is tentatively scheduled to be considered by the subcommittee on July 26 and by the full committee on August 2.

The Senate has not yet approved its version of the FY 2012 budget resolution and has not yet announced any spending parameters for its Appropriations subcommittees to use in drafting their versions of the annual spending bills.

As Congress continues to formulate the details of the FY 2012 budget, the Society encourages all ASH members to visit the ASH Advocacy Center to send a letter to their Senators and Representative urging their support for NIH funding. We encourage you to personalize the letter by providing examples of why NIH funding is important to you and your research.

back to top