Skip to content
News and updates

Author: Sarah Castro

Reviewed 9/22

Cures Passes House

Posted on

Last night, the House approved, 392-26, the 21st Century Cures Act, amended by a Manager’s Amendment submitted by House Energy and Commerce Chair Fred Upton (R-MI). While the Manager’s Amendment modifies slightly the allocation of funding in the NIH Innovation Account on an annual basis, it maintains the overall level of funding in the Account at a total of $4.796 billion between FYs 2017 and 2026. For the Precision Medicine Initiative, the Amendment provides $1.455 billion between FYs 2017 and 2026; for BRAIN, $1.511 billion between FYs 2017 and 2026; for cancer research, $1.8 billion between FYs 2017 and 2023; and for clinical research to advance regenerative medicine using adult stem cells, the Amendment provides $30 million between FYs 2017 and 2020.

The overwhelming vote tally gained more Republican votes and registered the same level of Democratic support when compared to the vote on a previous 2015 bill version (HR 6).

The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration next week.

White House Supports Cures

Posted on

Late yesterday, the White House issued a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) in support of the 21st Century Cures legislation, which is on the House Floor today.

The SAP expressly calls out the Innovation Fund in the measure, which targets funding for several of the Administration’s health care priorities, as a highlight of the measure.

Read the SAP here. 

No Additional Funding for NIH in CR

Posted on

Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS subcommittee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-MO) has said today that the CR will not include the $2b bump to NIH that was included in the Senate bill. The CR, in whatever duration, should contain level funding of $32.084b or FY 2016 levels. There has been a research and health community effort to increase funding for NIH as an anomaly to the CR, but Blunt said today that it will not happen.

While this does not mean that an ultimate increase to NIH will not happen in a final FY 2017 package, it will not happen in the stopgap spending measure.

Additionally, there is now tension between the House and Senate as to when to end the CR. House is looking towards a March ending and the Senate wants a May date. 

CR Until May?

Posted on

Senate Republicans are now pushing for the Fy 2017 stop-gap continuing resolution to go through May 2017. The House, particularly House conservatives, have long advocated for a March 2017 date. The White House continues to push for a CR that is as short as possible to ensure the Pentagon gets the budget assurance it needs for ongoing conflicts.

Additionally, the White House sent an $11.6 b request for additional funding to combat ISIL at the beginning of November.

The text of the CR is not expected to be unveiled until next week as House and Senate leadership continue to work though these issues.

Trump to Name Cho as Transportation Secretary

Posted on

President-elect Trump is expected to name Elaine Chao as his pick for Secretary of Transportation. Cho was Secretary of Labor in the President George W. Bush Administration, and Deputy Secretary of Transportation in the President George H.W. Bush Administration. Chao is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).