Policy Update Appropriations Detail: September 2017

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FY18 Appropriations Update: Senate Advances Labor-HHS-ED Bill; Continuing Resolution Prevents Government Shutdown; House Passes $1.23 Trillion Omnibus

Senate Advances Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Bill

On September 7, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and approved S 1771, the “Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018.” This bill provides funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Education (ED), in addition to a number of other federal departments and agencies. This bill, the largest of the nondefense spending bills, provides a total of $164.1 billion, an increase of $3 billion compared to the FY17 funding level and more than $8 billion more than the House Labor-HHS-ED bill, which advanced out of committee in July.

The bill provides $12 billion for the Department of Labor, a $61.5 million decrease compared to FY17. The Department of Education would receive $68.3 billion, a $29 million increase compared to FY17, while the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would receive $79.4 billion, an increase of $1.7 billion compared to FY17 funding. This is a significant departure from the House version of this bill, which contained substantial cuts to both the Departments of Labor and Education. The funding for HHS includes $36.1 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an increase of $2 billion compared to the FY17 funding level. Proposed institute level funding that may be of particular interest to SRCD members includes:

  • Institute of Education Sciences (IES): The bill includes $600.3 million for IES, a decrease of $5 million compared to the FY17 funding level.
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): The bill includes $1.426 billion for NICHD, an increase of $46 million compared to the FY17 funding level.
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): The billion includes $1.113 billion for NIDA, an increase of $22.5 million compared to the FY17 funding level.
  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): The bill includes $1.682 billion for NIMH, an increase of $80 million compared to the FY17 funding level.

Additional details are available here in the committee report.

Legislative Package Prevents Government Shutdown, Temporarily Extends Debt Limit, Provides Funding for Disaster Relief

On September 8, HR 601, the “Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 and Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017” was signed into law. This bill combined multiple important pieces of must-pass legislation including: a three-month continuing resolution that will fund the government through December 8, 2017, emergency funding for victims of recent hurricanes and other major disasters, and an extension of the debt limit for three months. The three-month continuing resolution gives Congress additional time to work on appropriations bills in order to fully fund the government in FY18. The bill also includes $15.25 billion in emergency funding for recovery from Hurricane Harvey and other disasters.

House Passes $1.23 Trillion Omnibus Spending Package

On September 14, the House of Representatives voted 211-198 to pass an omnibus spending package that includes all twelve spending bills for FY18. The package includes a total of $1.23 trillion, including $621.5 billion in defense spending and $511 billion in nondefense discretionary spending. The omnibus includes the same funding levels for major research agencies as were included in the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) and Labor-Health and Human Services-Education bills passed by the House Appropriations Committee earlier this summer. Please see the July 2017 edition of Policy Update for a full summary of the House CJS and Labor-HHS-ED bills. Congressional Quarterly reports that this spending package, developed by Republican leadership in the House, is filled with controversial policy riders and that it is “too conservative to pass in the Senate,” where 60 votes are required. With a continuing resolution through December 8, Congress now has additional time to work out a deal between the two chambers to fund the government for FY18, since this omnibus is unlikely to pass the Senate.