Returning from recess today, the House is set to consider the $128 billion “minibus” approved by the Senate on November 1, HR 2112. It covers FDA, NSF, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). More information can be found here. NIH is arguably the most important science agency not covered by the minibus. President Barack Obama proposed a $200 million, or 3% increase, to $31.7 billion. Senate Appropriations had approved, on September 21, $30.5 billion for NIH, while House Appropriations proposed (but has not voted on) $31.7 billion for the agency. Experts wonder if a bill that matches Obama in NIH spending could survive a Republican-controlled House. What are your predictions?
rom recess today, the House is set to consider the $128 billion “minibus” approved by the Senate on November 1, HR 2112. It covers FDA, NSF, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and sets their respective budgets at levels approved earlier this year by the Senate Appropriations Committee. More information can be found here.
NIH is arguably the most important science agency not covered by the minibus. President Barack Obama proposed a $200 million, or 3% increase, to $31.7 billion. Senate Appropriations had approved, on September 21, $30.5 billion for NIH, while House Appropriations proposed (but has not voted on) $31.7 billion for the agency.
Experts wonder if a bill that matches Obama in NIH spending could survive a Republican-controlled House. NIH will be included in whatever minibus covers the Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS)-Education portion of the budget and could perhaps also be combined with another portion of the budget, such as Defense. What are your predictions?