Advocacy Archive
Huge NIH NSF Gains
October 16, 1998
Dear Colleague:
Okay, sure it was an ugly win, but what a win. With the Republican Congress under intense pressure to dodge an embarrassing government shutdown and with Republicans and Democrats alike eager to get on the campaign trail, a FY 1999 budget deal has finally been struck -- two weeks into the fiscal year. It may have shattered the balanced budget agreement of just one year ago, and it is being called a classic way of how NOT to do the nation's business, but it provides the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with some of their largest increases ever.
NSF funding actually went through a close-to-normal process. Yes, it was a week late, and it was caught up in the frenzy of the end of the Congress, but at least it was passed as part of its usual bill. NSF received $3.67 billion, a 7.1 percent increase, overall, with a huge, almost 9 percent increase for research.
NIH appropriations were anything but normal. The usual process puts NIH in a large bill that already is the most controversial every session. Abortion, contraception, pornography, certain education programs, fetal research, labor agreements, low income supplements, you name it, this bill's got it. Except this year, the bill was rolled into an even bigger, make that mammoth, $500 billion spending package -- about a third of the entire amount that the federal government will spend this year. The NIH portion is an incredible $15.62 billion, even a tad more than when I reported a few weeks ago on what the Senate provided, and way more than the House gave. The final figure is $2 billion above last year, about a 15 percent increase, and puts NIH well on its way to a doubling in five years. Whew!
These numbers mean good things for science, including for psychology and behavioral science. All that supportive Congressional language on NSF and NIH we've been reporting on the last few months remains in effect and I know that many institutes are gearing up for new behavioral science initiatives. (Look for a report on the National Cancer Institute's plans in the November Observer.)
The only piece of business remaining for this to take effect is for the Congress to give it a final blessing and for the President to sign. That should take place later today or tomorrow. Then they are outa here. Now if only the Redskins could win this ugly.
Best, Alan