July 2017

The full House Appropriations Committee this week approved the fiscal year 2018 Labor-Health and Human Services spending bill which includes a $1.1 billion or about 3.2 percent funding increase for the NIH over the FY2017 level of $34 billion for total proposed FY2018 funding of $35.1 billion. Because the bill cuts almost $5 billion out of all health, labor and educations programs, funding reductions at other health agencies, such as the CDC, are proposed. The bill proposes a $198 million or about a 2.7 percent reduction to the CDC's budget for FY2018. For the CDC programs that the ATS monitors, the House bill provides:

• Flat funding at the FY2017 funding level of $29 million for the asthma program
• Flat funding at the FY2017 funding level of $142.2 million for the domestic tuberculosis program
• A funding reduction of $50 million or over 25 percent to the CDC's Office of Smoking and Health
• A funding reduction of $10 million or about 3 percent for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health

The next steps for the 2018 health research and services spending bill are House floor votes and Senate consideration. Although the House is planning to vote on a package of four FY2018 spending bills for Defense, Energy, the Legislative Branch and the Department of Veteran's Affairs, there is not yet agreement in the House for how to move the health and other spending bills to floor votes. The House Veterans Affairs spending bill provides an almost 7 percent funding increase for the VA Research program over the 2017 level. The Senate Labor-Health and Human Services subcommittee has not yet scheduled action but it is expected to early in the Fall.

On global health, the House Appropriations Committee also approved the FY2018 State Department and Foreign Operations spending bill. The bill provides flat funding at the FY2017 level of $241 million for USAID's global tuberculosis program.