House Approves FY 2008 Labor-HHS Bill – Provides 1.9 Percent Increase for NIH

For NIH, the bill includes $29.650 billion, an increase of $750 million (2.6 percent) above the current year's funding level; however, the bill also increases the amount of the transfer from NIH to the Global HIV/AIDS fund from the $99 million in FY 2007 to $300 million in FY 2008, which means the net increase in the NIH budget is $549 million (1.9 percent) over FY 2007.

While the House bill goes above the President’s requested level of $28.6 billion in funding for NIH for FY 2008 (a $310 million, or 0.8percent, decrease in funding from FY 2007), such a small increase is effectively a cut in funding since this level would not keep up with the expected 3.7 percent increase in biomedical inflation projected for 2008. ASH continues to support an increase in funding of 6.7 percent for NIH in FY 2008.

The Senate must still consider its version of the bill, though no schedule for Senate consideration has yet been set. The Senate Appropriations Committee has recommended $29.9 billion for NIH in FY 2008, an increase of $1 billion (3.5 percent) over the FY 2007 level. However, the Senate bill takes the same approach as the House subcommittee in transferring funds from NIH to the Global HIV/AIDS fund; as a result, the net increase proposed by the Senate for the NIH budget in its draft bill is $799 million (2.8 percent) over FY 2007.

It is a very tight year for the entire federal budget and grassroots support for NIH funding remains critical.  It is important for ASH members to visit the ASH Advocacy Center and send an e-mail to their Senators to strengthen support for NIH funding.