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NAEVR/AEVR News
Senate Appropriations Committee Releases FY2021 LHHS Appropriations Bill with Increased Funding for NIH, NEI
On November 10, the Senate Appropriations Committee released draft legislation that includes all twelve of its Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 appropriations bills, including the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) spending bill, with funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Eye Institute (NEI). For FY2021, the bill funds the NIH at a level of $43.68 billion, an increase of $2 billion or 4.8 percent over enacted FY2020. Since FY2016 (and including FY2021 proposed) this would be an increase of $13.6 billion or 45%. The bill also funds the NEI at a level of $850.14 million, an increase of $26.05 million or 3.2% over enacted FY2020. The bill does not include emergency research relief funding.
It is unlikely that the Senate will vote on the legislation, instead using it as a starting point with the House in negotiating an FY2021 Omnibus spending bill. In July, the House passed its FY2021 LHHS spending bill which included $47 billion for the NIH as $42 billion in annual appropriations (an increase of $500 million above the FY2020 enacted level) as well as $5 billion in emergency appropriations available through FY2025 —$2.5 billion of which is designated to the NIH’s Institutes and Centers (I/Cs) for research relief. The NEI would be funded at a level of $884.21 million, an increase of $7.09 million in annual appropriations and another $53.03 million in emergency funding which can be used through FY2025.
NAEVR thanked the Senate for its bill and urged it to work with the House to complete both the FY2021 appropriations process and emergency funding for the NIH. Since Congress was unable to pass any of the FY2021 spending bills before the start of the fiscal year on October 1, the government has been operating under a Continuing Resolution which runs through December 11. Congress must either pass FY2021 appropriations bills prior to that date or pass another CR and let the 117th Congress, which begins in January, finalize appropriations.
Read NAEVR’s statement and details of the Senate bill here.
NAEVR/AEVR Issue Fall 2020 Contributor Report
The Alliances have posted the Fall 2020 NAEVR/AEVR Contributor Report. Read the latest about advocacy for final Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 appropriations and NIH research relief, plus a summary of AEVR’s September 23-24 Sixth Annual Emerging Vision Scientists Day events, including the International AMD Awareness Week Congressional Briefing and AEVR’s 30-minute Conversation about the Impact of COVID-19 Lab Closures on the Next Generation of Vision Scientists.
Read the Fall 2020 Contributor Report
View videos from AEVR’s Sept 23-24 EVS events.
