The House Appropriations Committee has released text of the fiscal year 2018 omnibus spending bill. The House could vote as early as Thursday on the package. The House Rules Committee is expected to meet Wednesday night to report the bill to the floor for debate and a vote. The House typically observes a three-day rule before considering any legislation, but the House is expected waive to that provision and vote as early as Thursday.
After the House votes, the measure will be ready for Senate action, which must happen Friday, before current stopgap spending (PL 115-123) expires Friday.
The 2,232-page measure will be added as an amendment to an unrelated bill (HR 1625).
Failure to approve the measure by midnight Friday, without passing another stopgap in its place, would lead to another partial shutdown just before lawmakers were scheduled to depart for a two-week recess.
The text of the legislation can be found here.
Federal Relations is reviewing the measure and will provide updates.
Current known highlights include:
National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funded at $37 billion (an increase of $3 billion above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level). Within the total, the legislation includes $300 million for the Cancer Moonshot and $12.6 million for the Gabriella Miller “Kids First” pediatric cancer research initiative. The bill supports a new multi-year Down syndrome research initiative that will expand NIH support for research on Trisomy 21 and related diseases and disorders. The bill also includes a provision requiring NIH to continue reimbursing grantee research institutions for facilities and administrative costs.
- $1.8 billion (+$414 million) for Alzheimer’s disease research,
- $400 million (+$140 million) for the Brain Research through Application of Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative,
- $290 million (+$60 million) for the All of Us research initiative (formerly called the Precision Medicine Initiative),
- $10 million (+$8 million) for regenerative medicine research,
- $100 million (+$40 million) for research to develop a universal flu vaccine,
- $351 million (+17 million) for research on combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria,
- $543 million (+27 million) for Clinical and Translational Science Awards, and
- $351 million (+$17 million) for Institutional Development Awards (IDeA)
CDC is funded at $8.3 billion (an increase of $1.1 billion above the fiscal year 2017 level). Funding within the CDC includes $1.45 billion for CDC’s Public Health Preparedness and Response programs – an increase of $45 million. This will ensure that the Strategic National Stockpile and State and Local Preparedness capacity are adequate.
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is funded at $7 billion ($550 million above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level).
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is funded $334 million ($10 million above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level).
Department of Education is funded at $70.9 billion ($2.6 billion above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level). The maximum Pell Grant award is increased to $6,095, funded by a combination of discretionary and mandatory funds. TRIO and GEAR UP programs are increased by $60 million and $10 million, respectively, bringing TRIO programs to a total of $1.01 billion and GEAR UP to a total of $350 million.
NSF is funded at $7.8 billion ($295 million above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level). Research and related activities are funded at $6.3 billion ($301 million above the current level).
NASA is funded at $20.7 billion, $1.1 billion above the 2017 enacted level, including $4.8 billion for Exploration ($466 million above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level) and $6.2 billion for NASA Science programs ($457 million above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level).
NOAA is funded at $5.9 billion ($234 million above the fiscal year 2017 level).
EPA funding is frozen at the fiscal year 2017 enacted level of $8.1 billion. Within this total, EPA’s regulatory programs are reduced by $23.5 million below the current level. EPA’s staffing levels have been reduced by 650 positions over the last year, and are presently at 14,172 positions. Overall staffing has been reduced by 3,106 positions since fiscal year 2010.
USGS receives $1.1 billion for the USGS ($63 million above the fiscal year 2017 enacted level). Funding is targeted to critical infrastructure investments in natural hazards programs, streamgages, the groundwater monitoring network, and mapping activities. The bill includes $23 million for an earthquake early warning system to help save lives during natural disasters, and $26 million to fully fund the development of “Landsat 9” – a satellite program that provides land use measurements that are important to local communities for agriculture, forestry, energy and water resource decisions.