NIH Appropriations Update: House Subcommittee Provides Slight Increase for NIH

On Thursday, July 8, the House Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee – which has jurisdiction over the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other HHS agencies – approved fiscal year (FY) 2005 appropriations legislation for NIH. The bill will provide NIH with $28.44 billion, an increase of $782 million or 2.8 percent. During the debate on the bill, Representative David Obey (D-WI) – Ranking Member of the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee – offered an amendment to increase funding for NIH, education, and job training by capping the next year’s tax cuts for people making more than $1 million, but the amendment was rejected on a party line vote.

Within NIH, the House Appropriations Subcommittee’s FY 2005 spending bill includes: $4.87 billion for the National Cancer Institute, a $131 million or 2.76 percent increase; $2.96 billion for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, an $85.2 million or 2.96 percent boost; $1.72 billion for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a $54.3 million or 3.25 percent increase; and $1.05 billion for the National Institute on Aging, a $30.9 million or 2.92 percent boost.

Outlook

The House bill is expected to come before the full Appropriations Committee next week and go to the House floor during the week of July 19.

No action on FY 2005 NIH appropriations is imminent in the Senate. The appropriations bills are stalled in the Senate because of a partisan dispute over time limits for debating the bills. The Senate may try to begin debate again within the next week on the FY 2005 spending measures, but more than likely will wait until after its August recess to reconsider the legislation.