2014

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Congress Passes Omnibus 2014 Spending Measure

January 2014

This week, Congress passed a final measure to fund government programs for FY2014, sending it to the President for signature into law. The bill includes some mixed news for health research and services and environmental protection programs. The following are the budget specifics:

  • The bill provides $29,934 billion for the NIH for the remainder of FY2014. This is a $783 million, or 3.2% funding increase over the FY2013 budget after the sequestration funding cut, but is $706 million below the FY2013 pre-sequestration funding of $30,640 billion.
  • The bill provides $2,998 billion for the NHLBI, an increase of $87,312 million and 3% over the FY2013 post-sequestration level.
  • The bill provides $6,900 billion for the CDC, which is a $618 million increase over the FY2013 budget following sequestration and $369 million, or 2.3% above the pre-sequestration budget, and the following CDC programs:
    • The bill provides $135 million for the CDC's domestic TB program, which is $2 million over the final FY2013 funding level, following the sequestration funding cut, but 3.5% below the FY2012 funding level of $140.2 million.
    • The bill provides $24,700 million for the CDC's asthma program, a funding increase of $1,451 million over the FY2013 post-sequestration funding level.
    • The bill provides $205 million for the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, an increase of $19,592 million over the FY2013 post-sequestration level.
    • The bill provides $292,300 million for NIOSH, an increase of $9,176 million over the FY2013 post-sequestration level.
    • The bill provides $8,200 billion for the EPA, which is a cut of $278 million, or 3.5% below the EPA budget before sequestration.
  • The bill provides $236 million for USAID's global TB program, which is a funding freeze with the FY2013 budget before sequestration. This funding is also the higher level proposed between the House and Senate for the program, which is a victory. The Senate had proposed a lower funding level of $224 million for the program.
  • The bill provides $585,600 million for the VA Research program, a $2.9 million increase over FY2013.

One of the final sticking points to agreement on the omnibus was on funding for implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with Republicans pushing for ACA cuts. The final bill freezes ACA funding but cuts $1 billion from the law's Prevention and Public Health Fund, which funds public health initiatives such as state tobacco cessation programs. The bill also cuts $10 million from the Independent Medicare Payment Advisory Board, which was set up under the ACA to find savings in the Medicare program and which has become unpopular with a number of members of Congress in both parties. The omnibus also maintains the same restrictions on federal agency staff travel as in FY2013, which is a concern for the ATS.

Also important to note is that the bill appears to be free of controversial policy riders that have troubled other funding bills. Previous House appropriations bills have used the appropriations bills to prevent regulatory agencies like EPA and OSHA from moving forward on important regulations.

Last Reviewed: October 2017