As of press time, Congress is on the verge of approving year-long funding for a significant share of federal programs – likely passing 6 out of 13 appropriations bills funding the federal government.  Key to the ATS members, Congress moved forward with bills to fund Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Food and Drug Administration. 

Congress cut EPA’s overall funding by ten percent, however the bulk of those cuts were in the EPA Superfund program, which had already received a bolus of funding in the infrastructure law passed earlier in the Biden Administration.  Core EPA programs, including clean air programs, will only see a 3.5 percent cut for FY24.

While reduced funding for EPA core programs is concerning, the legislation does not have legislative language to block or delay EPA from moving forward on clean air or climate programs.  House Republicans had initially made it a high priority to include report language to block or delay EPA’s work several clean air and climate programs but faced strong opposition from Democratics and the Administration.    

Some Relief for Medicare Physician Payment in Spending Package
The spending package also included some relief in the 2024 3.37 percent reduction in reimbursement for Medicare physician services.  The bill being considered by Congress does not eliminate the cut, but it does provide partial relief by reducing the cut by 1.68 percent. 

VA Research Budget Gets an Increase
The spending package also provides $943 million for the VA Medical and Prosthetic Research program, an increase of $27 million over FY23 funding.

Attention now turns to the Senate, which as of press time, was still working out an agreement to consider the spending package before Friday at midnight.  While most Congressional observers believe the Senate will ultimately approve the spending package, accelerated consideration of the deal will require agreement from all 100 Senators, so the potential for last minute drama remains.