Immediate Action Needed to Support NIH Budget

December 4, 2007 – Following President Bush’s November veto of proposed final funding levels for NIH in FY 2008, House and Senate conferees are currently working on a revised FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill to incorporate into a larger omnibus spending bill.

Congressional leaders are working on a plan to "split the difference" between the President's discretionary budget request for the 11 spending bills that have not been enacted and the higher number supported by the Democrats – a difference of about $21 billion. The proposed plan would combine the remaining 11 spending bills into an "omnibus" spending package that would provide $484.2 billion, or $10.6 billion less than congressional leaders had originally proposed. Though precise funding levels for programs such as NIH have not been discussed publicly, an omnibus bill will likely mean funding for NIH in FY 2008 that falls short of the 3.1 percent increase called for in the vetoed bill.

Grassroots advocacy is critical now because the Appropriations Committees plan to complete work on their revised bill this week. ASH wants to ensure that the funding level for NIH in the revised conference agreement comes as close as possible to the increase proposed in the vetoed agreement. All ASH members are encouraged to visit the ASH Advocacy Center to send an e-mail to their Senators and Representative urging them to support the highest possible funding for NIH in FY 2008.