President Sends FY 2019 Budget Proposal Request to Congress
The White House released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget proposal on Monday, February 12, entitled “Efficient, Effective, Accountable: An American Budget.” The proposal includes an addendum written after Congress approved to raise the spending caps on February 9 (see next article). While President Trump was originally planning to slash funding for science programs across the board, the addendum added funding back in for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, but not to the levels proposed for FY 2018. Other agencies, including National Institute for Standard and Technology and the Department of Energy Applied Research programs, did not receive a reprieve. The AAAS provides an early analysis of the budget.
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 Raises Spending Caps, Extends Government Funding through March 23
On Feb. 9, the president signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (H.R. 1892), after both the Senate and House approved the bill. The agreement funds the federal government through March 23, raises the debt ceiling, and includes an agreement to raise the spending caps set by sequestration for 2018 and 2019. The deal to raise the spending caps applies to both defense and nondefense discretionary programs but raises the caps for defense programs $165 billion and nondefense only $131 billion over the next two years. It clears the way to provide additional funding to programs both Democrats and Republicans care about, including at least a $1 billion increase for NIH in both FY 2018 and FY 2019. This is less than many in the House and Senate had previously proposed for FY 2018: the House of Representatives has proposed a $1.1 billion increase and the Senate $2 billion. Representative Tom Cole (R-OK), chairman of the House health appropriations panel indicated that he expected NIH to fare well as long as Congress is able to pass a spending bill for the rest of FY 2018 by March 23.
The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, of which the Society is a member, issued a statement praising the increase in discretionary spending caps, expressing appreciation that the deal acknowledges the NIH as a critical national priority, and reiterating its FY 2018 recommendation of “at least $36.1 billion for the NIH, in addition to dedicated funding through the 21st Century Cures Act and other funding devoted to specific priorities.”
The Coalition for National Science Funding, of which the Society is also a member, wrote to House and Senate Commerce-Justice-Science appropriators to request $8 billion for NSF in FY18 to reflect 4 percent real growth over FY16. "This requested increase of 4% real growth," the letter says, "is consistent with the first recommendation in the clarion call-to-action, Innovation: An American Imperative, which more than 500 organizations from all 50 states representing industry, academia, and scientific and engineering societies have endorsed."
The Energy Sciences Coalition (ESC), which includes the Biophysical Society, sent a letter to Congress thanking them for lifting the sequestration-level budget cap for non-defense discretionary spending. The letter also urges Congress to provide the DOE Office of Science with $5.7 billion in FY 2018. This level of funding is consistent with ESC FY 2018 funding statements, which were delivered to Congress in April and December of 2017.
United for Medical Research Issues Report on NIH Funding Impact
United for Medical Research has released new economic data showing the impacts of NIH-funded research on the U.S. economy. According to the report, in FY 2017, NIH research funding directly and indirectly supported over 400,000 jobs nationwide. In the same year, income generated by these jobs, as well as through the purchase of research-related equipment, services, and materials produced $68.795 billion in new economic activity. The report also shows a correlation between recent increases to the NIH budget and economic benefits. Here is the full report.
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