On October 23, 2007, the Senate passed 75-19 the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations bill, which includes $29.9 billion for the National Institutes of Health, $1 billion over FY 2007. Although this increase would only boost the NIH budget by a factor equal to the Consumer Price Index, a bare minimum, it is a stronger increase than the House-passed bill (1.8%) and much-improved over the cut proposed by the President’s budget.
The Parkinson’s Action Network thanks the Parkinson’s advocacy community for weighing in with their Senators to protect this 2.8% increase for the NIH. PAN also sent several significant coalition letters in support of the Senate NIH funding level as well as support for the overall funding increases in the bill to both the House and Senate last week. We are delighted that our multi-pronged efforts to protect much-needed NIH funding were successful.
Overall, the bill includes $144.8 billion in discretionary spending, which is $7.3 billion over FY 2007, $10.8 billion more than President Bush requested, and $2.1 billion less than the House-passed bill. However, President Bush has threatened to veto the measure because it exceeds the funding level in his request.
Please read the PAN coalition letters to the Senate and House in support of the Senate provided increase in funding for the NIH.
Please read the PAN coalition letter, signed by 850 organizations, that was sent to the entire Senate urging passage of the FY08 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill which increases overall funding above the FY 2007 levels for critical programs.
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