This week the Senate Committee on Appropriations took action on the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations measure. Most notably, the measure provides a $2 billion bump for the National Institutes of Health and restores year-round Pell Grants.
National Institutes of Health is funded at $34 billion in the proposal, a 6.3% increase above FY2016. This includes:
- $300 million for the Precision Medicine Initiative, an increase of $100 million;
- $1.39 billion for Alzheimer’s disease research, an increase of $400 million;
- $250 million, an increase of $100 million, for the BRAIN Initiative to map the human brain;
- $333.4 million, an increase of $12.5 million, for the Institutional Development Award;
- $463 million, an increase of $50 million, to Combat Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria;
- $297.3 million for Title VII Health Professions, a 13.3 percent increase above the FY 2016 level.
Notably, the measure would restore the year-round Pell Grant, benefitting an estimated one million students. The reinstated year-round Pell program is modeled after the program included in S. 1062, the “Year-Round Pell Grant Restoration Act,” which does not have a minimum credit requirement or acceleration clause for eligibility.The bill would also raise the maximum Pell Grant award from $5,815 to $5,935. In addition, the provision would provide level funding year-over-year for Federal Work Study at $990 million, TRIO at $900 million, and GEAR UP at $323 million. Title VI International Education is funded at $67 million, which is a $5 million cut to the Fulbright Hayes program and level funding for the domestic programs.