Senate Appropriations Committee Markup of FY 2023 Spending Bills
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) released all 12 FY 2023 Senate appropriations bills on Thursday, July 28, including proposed funding for the Department of Health and Human Services:
National Institutes of Health
The bill provides a total of $46.959 billion for the NIH base budget (+$2 billion over FY 2022, +4.5 percent), which includes $1.085 billion for the Innovation Account as provided by the 21st Century Cures Act, a $589 million increase over funding provided in FY 2022 for the Cures Act initiatives. Additionally, the bill provides a $1 billion investment in ARPA-H “as a standalone agency within NIH” (same funding level as FY 2022), which would be available through Sept. 30, 2025. This results in what the committee reports as a total program level of $47.959 billion for the NIH in FY 2023.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The bill also provides an increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for a total investment of $10.5 billion, an increase of $2 billion or 23.5 percent. This funding is intended to transform and rebalance the agency between disease and condition-specific activities and cross-cutting fundamental priorities.
Health Disparities
The bill also provides an additional $100 million to expand research to reduce health disparities, in keeping with the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advancing health equity and civil rights.
EPA
The bill provides $10.6 bill for EPA, an increase of $1.1 billion over fiscal year 2022. As part of EPA funding the bill provides $231 million for climate and clean air programs, an increase of 54 percent and $180 million for environmental justice programs.
VA Research
The Senate also is proposing $916 million for the VA Medical and Prosthetic Research program, an increase of $34 million over current spending.
The Senate release of the proposed spending bills is an important step in the process, but it is likely a final Congressional spending agreement won’t be reached until later this fall. The ATS will continue to advocate for federal investment in key research and public health programs.
