Washington Update - June 2009

Capitol Hill has begun the annual appropriations process that will determine the funding level for FY10 for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

President Obama released the details of his proposed FY10 budget on May 12. In it, the President recommends a 1.4% or $442 million increase in funding for the NIH over FY09. The discussion of the Administration’s FY10 increase does not include the $10.4 billion the NIH received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The President’s plan also sets aside $268 million of the proposed $443 million increase for cancer and autism research.

Our friends in Congress share our concern regarding disease-specific NIH funding. The House and the Senate Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations Subcommittees (LHHS) have held hearings with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as the hearing witness. Both Chairman Obey (D-WI) and Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) asked if it is appropriate for lawmakers to decide to fund research on one disease at the expense of other diseases. Chairman Obey is quoted as saying, "the result will be political chaos in an area that ought to be determined by science."

The House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee expects to consider the LHHS bill that funds the NIH by July 8, and have it ready for the full House to vote on the bill by July 22. The Senate has not announced the schedule for consideration of the LHHS appropriations bill.

The advocacy community is concerned about the small proposed increases in the NIH budget for this year but is sensitive to the view of legislators and the administration that the $10 billion in stimulus funds for NIH justifies the modest increase in the annual appropriation this year. Our contacts in Congress and the administration assure us that they are aware of the drastic drop in total NIH funds that will occur when stimulus funds are spent, unless the regular NIH appropriation receives a substantial boost in 2011.

The CLS will alert you when it is time to take action on the NIH appropriations proposal.

On June 9, the full House Appropriations Committee approved the funding levels recommended by the House Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee for the FY10 NSF appropriations.

The Committee approved funding for NSF at $6.9 billion—an increase of $446 million or 7% over FY09—but $145 million less than the President’s request of $7.045 billion. The Committee felt that the NSF would be financially stable even with the smaller increase than the President’s recommendation given the additional $3 billion provided to the agency from the stimulus package.

The Committee’s funding recommendation, however, still provides the necessary resources for NSF to continue on the doubling path identified in the COMPETES Act. One of the key components of the COMPETES Act is to increase the U.S. scientific talent pool by vastly improving K-12 mathematics and science education. Thus, the Committee supported $1 billion for science education. That funding level represents $68 million above the President’s request and $36 million above FY09 to support all aspects of science, technology, engineering and math education from kindergarten through graduate school.

The CLC will continue to keep you informed about each step in the debate toward the completion of the FY10 federal budget, with frequent updates posted on the Coalition’s web site at www.coalitionforlifesciences.org. If you’d like to follow news the CLS cares about, join us on Facebook.