Congressional Action Completed on FY 2006 NIH Funding

In FY 2006, NIH will operate with $30 million less than FY 2005.

December 23, 2005—The House of Representatives and Senate completed their work on the fiscal year (FY) 2006 Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Conference Report (HR 3010) late last night. Under the final version of the bill, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would receive $28.62 billion, a $253 million or 0.9 percent increase over last year. However, the House and Senate also approved an across-the-board 1 percent rescission on all FY 2006 discretionary spending. For NIH, the cut means a loss of approximately $280 million in FY 2006. With NIH’s FY 2006 increase only $253 million, this year the Institutes will be operating at a funding level $30 million below the FY 2005 enacted level.

The FY 2006 Labor-HHS funding bill has been sent to President Bush for his signature. He has until December 31 to sign the bill into law.

FY 2006 Funding Debate

Supporters of increased NIH funding in FY 2006 thought they were making progress on November 17, when the House rejected the FY 2006 Labor-HHS appropriations bill (HR 3010) by a 209-222 vote. The defeated bill provided NIH with an FY 2006 increase of $206 million, a boost of only 0.7 percent. The bill was voted down for several reasons, including: funding for NIH; cuts in funding for rural health programs; and, the decision to eliminate funding for all member-specific projects (or earmarks) in the bill. However, on December 15, the House narrowly approved the bill (by a 215-213 vote) when some additional funds were added for NIH, rural health programs, and member-specific projects, to satisfy members who voted against the original bill.

During Senate debate on the bill, Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) as well as other supporters of increased NIH funding were not able to garner enough votes to provide for a greater FY 2006 NIH funding increase within the overall fiscal constraints of the federal budget.

Outlook for FY 2007

The FY 2007 budget debate will commence on February 6 when President Bush releases his FY 2007 federal budget proposal. Medical research advocates anticipate that the Bush Administration will offer NIH only a small increase, probably in the range of 1-2 percent. In this time of tremendous health challenges and unparalleled scientific opportunity, NIH advocates will again have their work cut out for them as they appeal to the House and Senate for FY 2007 funding.

If you have questions, or need more information, please contact ASH Government Affairs Manager Jeff Coughlin at (202) 776-0544 or jcoughlin@hematology.org.