NIH Appropriations Bill Stalls in the House

June 28, 2006 - Prospects for a House vote in the near future on the FY 2007 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill (H.R. 5647) are beginning to look bleak. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated on June 20 that he will "probably not" allow any spending bill to come to the House floor that raises the minimum wage. On June 13, the House Appropriations Committee voted 32-27 to adopt an amendment to the Labor-HHS-Education bill to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 by January 2009. The House Appropriations Committee filed their report on June 20 regarding the Labor-HHS-Education bill (H.Rpt. 109-515). The House Labor-HHS-Education bill is $4.1 billion above the President's budget; however, even with the increased spending in the bill, the committee flat-funded the NIH at $28.3 billion. Once spending is also adjusted for inflation, NIH faces a 4-percent cut.

The Senate Labor-HHS-Education appropriations subcommittee is tentatively scheduled to consider its FY 2007 bill on July 18, with full committee action on July 20. It is expected, however, that the House and Senate will not complete a conference on the L-HHS Appropriations before the midterm elections in November. They will most likely have to come back to Washington for a "lame-duck" session, when they will pass an omnibus spending bill.