News from the Hill: May 29, 2024

The House completed its first appropriations bill markup of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 appropriations process. The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA) Appropriations bill was reported out of committee on a party-line vote. While the FY 2025 House MilCon-VA bill is a Defense bill and receiving additional funding through a generous budget allocation, the specific spending items are in mixed-bag. While healthcare for veterans receives further investment through the bill, the VA research program sees a sizable, proposed cut in annual funding. The House has announced intentions to mark up all twelve appropriations bills by mid-July but is starting to temper expectations for the bills scheduled for late in the process, including the Labor-HHS-Education (L-HHS) measure.

The Senate has yet to hold a markup of an FY 2025 appropriations bill, and traditionally moves after the House. Recently, the Senate accepted outside witness testimony from stakeholder organizations on FY 2025 funding priorities, including the Coalition for Clinical and Translational Science. The Senate also held a budget request hearing with new NIH Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli. This was the Directors first opportunity to speak on the record about her vision for NIH and emerging priorities, including the recent common fund announcement that included CTSAs and IDeA CTRs. Dr. Bertagnolli was joined at the hearing by Institute Directors representing NCI, NIAID, NIDA, NIA, and NHLBI. Additional information can be found here.

The House and Senate are already staking out familiar territory in the debate over FY 2025 appropriations. Many Republicans are calling for increases in Defense spending coupled with cuts to non-Defense programs while most Democrats are supporting a balanced approach with modest increases for both Defense and non-Defense programs. While Congress will need to work in September to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government open and operating, legislators will be largely absent from Capitol Hill from August to the November elections. Advocacy and outreach will be particularly crucial this year as Congress balances limited resources with many federal and local priorities.

By: Dane Christiansen, Washington Representative