House and Senate Approve Budget Resolutions; Senate Includes Amendment to Increase NIH Funding

March 14, 2008 – By a vote of 94-5, the Senate approved an amendment to the fiscal year (FY) 2009 Budget Resolution (S.Con.Res. 70) offered by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), and cosponsored by 29 additional senators, to increase FY 2009 funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $2.1 billion. The Budget Resolution approved by the Senate Budget Committee included a $950 million increase for NIH; the Specter-Harkin amendment would bring the total increase for NIH to $3 billion (or approximately 10.3 percent) over the President’s proposed funding of $29.3 billion for NIH.

The amended version of S.Con.Res. 70, which included the Specter-Harkin amendment to increase NIH funding, passed the Senate on March 13 by a vote of 51-44.

The House also passed its version of the FY 2009 Budget Resolution (H.Con.Res. 312) on March 13 by a vote of 212-207. The House Budget Resolution includes funding overall discretionary funding for federal public health programs – including NIH – in the amount of $57.6 billion.

Each chamber's Budget Resolution sets forth a budgetary blueprint which each Appropriations subcommittee uses as guidelines in drafting their respective funding bills. Over the course of the next several months, the various House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees will begin the task of determining precise spending levels for federal programs and agencies such as NIH. ASH will continue its advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill during the FY 2009 budget debate and encourages all members to take action to support increased funding for NIH. Grassroots advocacy by researchers around the country will be necessary to ensure hematologic research is adequately funded at NIH.

For more information about FY 2009 NIH funding and to participate in ASH’s online advocacy campaign, please visit the ASH Advocacy Center.