Research and Public Health Advocacy

The ASM Office of Public Affairs tracks federal agency research and public health budgets and provides summary information to reflect the outcome of the appropriations process as it unfolds throught the year.  The Office of Public has a web page dedicated to the appropriations process (http://www.asm.org/RD-FY2014).

Research and Development Funding News

January 17, 2014 - ASM Statement on the FY 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Bill
The ASM released a statement about the passage of the "Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014."

January 14, 2014 - Omnibus Appropriations Bill Increases Research Funding
House and Senate appropriations committees released an FY 2014 omnibus appropriations bill on January 13 that would fund the federal government through September and restores some of the funding lost to the across-the-board cuts from sequestration. The bill includes all 12 FY 2014 spending bills. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) would receive a $1 billion (3.5 percent) increase over the FY 2013 post-sequestration budget and is funded at $29.926 billion. The funding level for NIH is $714 million less than the FY 2013 enacted level of $30.6 billion before sequestration. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funded at $7.2 billion, which restores funding lost to sequestration, but this level is about $400 million below the President’s 2014 budget request of $7.6 billion. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would receive $6.9 billion, $567 million over the FY 2013 program level, and a line item of $30 million is included for the Advanced Molecular Detection Initiative. The USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) is funded at the requested level of $316 million. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would receive $2.6 billion, $91 million over the FY 2013 enacted level, or $4.4 billion including user fees, $85 million of which are restored due to the sequester. The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science level of funding is $5.1 billion, $195 million ( 4 percent) over the FY 2013 enacted level. The expectation is that the omnibus bill will get enough bipartisan support to pass although a short term continuation of government funding through January 18 is being considered to provide additional time for final passage of the omnibus bill. The omnibus bill reasserts the regular order of the appropriations process and provides restoration of some of the funding lost to sequestration, but it does not completely reverse the effects of sequestration.

December 19, 2013 - Budget Deal Finalized by Congress
The House and Senate have passed a budget compromise measure (HJ Res 59), which allocates to appropriations committees an increase in fiscal year 2014 spending levels and rolls back budgetary sequestration requirements that were due to impact research programs. Congressman Ryan and Senator Murray, chairs of a bipartisan and bicameral “Budget Conference Committee,” established by passage of the “Continuing Appropriations Resolution of 2014,” negotiated the “Bipartisan Budget Agreement Act of 2013 (BBA).” The agreement reconciles spending cap differences between the House and the Senate for FY 2014. The Ryan-Murray deal finalized discretionary spending for the current fiscal year (FY) 2014 at $1.012 trillion, roughly halfway between the House budget level of $967 billion and the Senate budget level of $1.058 trillion. The BBA also provides partial relief from sequestration in FY 2015. The agreement allows appropriators to draft spending bills for the remainder of FY 2014 and provides $63 billion in relief from sequester cuts over the next two years for both defense and non-defense discretionary programs.  The Bipartisan Budget Agreement is a step forward in mitigating some of the harm from the random cuts of sequestration. The ASM has been urging Congress to end sequestration and will continue to advocate for robust investment in basic research as the appropriations process proceeds for FY 2014 and FY 2015. The Bipartisan Budget Act is designed to restore order to the federal budget and appropriations process and to allow some reinvestment in domestic priorities, such as research. The BBA restores almost two-thirds of the scheduled non-defense discretionary cuts in 2014. House and Senate appropriations committees are beginning the process to write FY 2014 spending bills before the expiration of the current Continuing Resolution on January 15, 2014. Information and updates on appropriations bills will be available at: http://www.asm.org/ResearchFunding.

October 29, 2013 - ASM Sends Funding Recommendations to the Budget Conference Committee
The ASM sent funding recommendations to the Budget Conference Committee.  The Budget Conference Committee has a December 13, 2013, deadline to negotiate the differences in spending levels for FY 2014 between the House and the Senate and to issue a report.

October 17, 2013 - Continuing Resolution/Budget Conference Committee Update
On October 17, HR. 2775 the “Continuing Appropriations Resolution of 2014” was signed into law by the President, extending the debt ceiling through February 7, 2014 and temporarily restoring funding for government agencies.  This page includes an analysis of the bill.

September 19, 2013 - Research Funding Update
As the start of Fiscal Year 2014 approaches, Congress remains undecided over federal funding and strategy to extend current year spending authority through a FY 2014 Continuing Resolution (CR), a stopgap bill to fund the government from October 1 through December 15. The CR is intended to provide a timeframe for Congress to come to agreement on full year 2014 appropriations for federal agencies. The recently introduced House CR would fund federal programs at their current post-sequester FY 2013 level of funding. The ASM continues to work with Congress, along with coalitions of science and public health advocates, to ensure that research and public health programs are funded at the highest level possible and that deficit control measures do not result in additional cuts to these essential programs.

On July 18, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote, the subcommittee’s FY 2014 appropriations bill for Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS). The legislation funds the National Science Foundation (NSF) at $7.4 billion, a $430 million increase over the House Appropriations Committees FY 2014 level. The bill will next be sent to the full Senate for approval.

On July 17, the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2014 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) spending bill for fiscal year (FY) 2014. The House legislation would fund the National Science Foundation (NSF) at $7 billion, $259 million below the enacted FY 2013 level, but $111 million more than the FY 2013 final funding level, after sequestration.

On July 10, the House approved its spending bill for the Department of Energy (DOE). The office of Science would receive $4.7 billion, approximately $300 million below the President’s request for FY 2014, and Basic Energy Sciences (BES) would receive $1.6 billion. The Senate Appropriations Committee, however, recommended $5.2 billion for the Office of Science, the same as the President’s FY 2014 request.

On July 9, the Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Labor Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies released its FY 2014 appropriation recommendations and included funding levels for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Highlights are:

NIH: the subcommittee recommended $30,945,776 billion for the NIH, an increase of nearly $307 million over the FY 2013 enacted level, before sequestration, and $147 million below the Administration’s request.

CDC: the subcommittee recommended $7,022,769 billion, an increase of $478 million from FY 2013 enacted level and more than $378 million over the Administration’s request.

In late June, the Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies approved their FY 2014 spending bill for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) among others. The legislation would fund the FDA with a total of $2.6 billion, $96 million over FY 2013 and the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) at the USDA would receive $1.1 billion, $51 million over FY 2013. The House Committee approved $2.5 billion in FY 2014 for the FDA, and recommended $291 million for the USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), $92 million below the President’s request.

Helpful Links:

Legislative Action Center
The ASM has an advocacy tool that allows ASM members to send messages to their representative and senators about issues of importance to the microbiological sciences.  The ASM Public Affairs Office updates the page with timely issue alerts.

Taking the Message to Congress
A guide to communicating with Congress from the American Society for Microbiology Office of Public Affairs.

Research and Development Funding for FY 2013 and FY 2014
The ASM Office of Public Affairs has developed this page to keep ASM members up to date on the appropriations process for Fiscal Years 2013 and 2014.

ASM Public Policy Web Page
Includes ASM policy statements, updates and reports.