President Bush Recommends Insufficient Budget For NIH

On February 7, 2005, President George W. Bush released his fiscal year (FY) 2006 Budget proposal. Overall, President Bush’s $2.57 trillion spending proposal offers a new austerity in domestic programs with growth of less than 1 percent in discretionary domestic spending outside of national security programs. White House aides have described this year’s budget as the tightest of the Bush presidency as the plan seeks to significantly reduce or eliminate 150 federal programs to keep the President’s campaign promise of eliminating the federal deficit by 2009.

For the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the President recommends spending $28.845 billion in FY 2006, a $196 million or 0.7 percent increase over last year. Within NIH, the President proposes less than a 1 percent increase for the primary institutes involved in hematology-related research.

In addition, the Bush Administration’s plan for NIH proposes $15.494 billion to fund an estimated 38,746 total research project grants (RPGs), 402 below the number funded last year. Moreover, the President’s Budget would support an estimated 9,463 competing RPGs, an increase of 247 over FY 2005. It is also important to note that in FY 2006, NIH will direct $333 million towards NIH Roadmap for Biomedical Research initiatives, an increase of $98 million over FY 2005. Of this $333 million, $83 million will come from the NIH Directors Discretionary Fund and $250 million will be contributed by NIH’s Institutes and Centers. The President’s Budget estimates that the contribution from each NIH Institute and Center to the Roadmap will amount to 0.9 percent of their individual FY 2006 budget requests.

The release of the President’s Budget indicates the Administration’s budget and policy priorities and is just the first step in the federal budget process. In the coming months, the House and the Senate will each compile their own budget proposals that will include spending for priorities that differ with the Bush Administration’s plan for FY 2006. The President’s Budget is already receiving both praise and criticism from Capitol Hill: some members of Congress see this lean proposal as the proper response to a crushing federal deficit. Others see the small increases proposed by the President to be too draconian for non-Departments of Defense and Homeland Security programs.

In response to the inadequate funding increases proposed for NIH, please visit the Society’s Action Center and send a message to your Senators and Representatives to generate their interest in supporting FY 2006 NIH funding. In this very tight budget year, nationwide grassroots support for NIH funding is critical to gain any traction in the Congressional budget process.

ASH will keep its membership informed about each step in the debate toward the completion of the FY 2006 Federal Budget, with frequent updates posted on the Society’s website. More detailed information about the President’s FY 2006 Budget Request for the Department of Health and Human Services is available online.

If you have questions, or need more information, please contact ASH Government Affairs Manager Jeff Coughlin at (202) 292-0256.