On Aug. 24, the Senate passed a $2 billion funding increase for the NIH as part of a “mini-omnibus” appropriations package of the health and defense spending bills for fiscal year (FY) 2019. The package, which passed the Senate by a vote of 85 – 7, would set 2019 NIH funding at $39.1 billion, up from $37.1 billion in FY2018. Although Senate passage of the NIH funding increase is a significant step and a potential victory, the FY2020 health-defense measure must still be passed by the House and signed into law by the President prior to the end of the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, 2018.

Looking at public health, the Senate-passed FY2019 spending bill would propose an approximate $150 million, or 1.9 percent funding reduction for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Programs that the ATS monitors most closely at the CDC are mostly flat-funded, including:

• Asthma – flat-funded at the FY2028 level of $29 million.
• Domestic Tuberculosis – flat-funded at the FY2028 level of $142.2 million.
• National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) – a minor $100,000 funding increase over the FY2018 level for a total FY2019 funding level of $335.3 million.
• Tobacco Control – flat-funded at the FY2028 level of $210 million.

When the House of Representatives returns to Capitol Hill on Sept. 4, they will have just eleven days to pass the Senate’s FY2019 health-defense minibus or their own version. Although the final path and outcome of all FY2019 spending bills is unclear in this election year, the Senate’s action and strong bipartisan support for NIH in both chambers make it likely at this point that the $2 billion NIH increase will be enacted.