Sep 07, 2017
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The US Senate’s appropriations committee today approved a funding bill that would increase the National Institutes of Health’s fiscal 2018 budget by $2 billion to $36.1 billion.
The bill — which was cleared by the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee yesterday — was approved by the full appropriations committee by a 30-1 vote.
Of the total allocated to the NIH, $1.8 billion is earmarked for Alzheimer’s disease research, representing a $414 million increase over fiscal 2017; $400 million for the BRAIN Initiative, $140 million more than last fiscal year; and a $60 million increase to $290 million for the All of Us precision medicine program. The National Cancer Institute’s precision medicine program received a $10 million increase to $80 million under the fiscal 2018 funding bill; while $513 million was committed to fighting antibiotic-resistance bacteria, a $50 million increase over the previous fiscal year.
“This bill upholds important investments in programs that affect all Americans,” Appropriations Committee Chairman Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) said in a statement. “It deserves consideration by the Senate.”
Congress: NIH Budget Will Not Be Cut
Congress Inks Spending Deal That Jettisons Trump Priorities
– Bloomberg News, May 1, 2017
U.S. House and Senate negotiators reached a tentative bipartisan deal on a $1.1 trillion spending bill that largely tracks with Democratic priorities and rejects most of President Donald Trump’s wish list.
Overall, the compromise resembles more of an Obama administration-era budget than a Trump one. The National Institutes of Health, for example, would see a $2 billion boost, reflecting the popularity of medical research among lawmakers.