On July 1, the House Appropriations Agriculture/FDA Subcommittee marked up it FY 11 bill. The bottomline was good for FDA: $2.571 billion, a $214 million increase over FY 10, about 9%. No further details will be released until the full committee marks up, possibly later this month.

On July 15, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up its version of the Agriculture/FDA funding bill. The good news is that the Senate agreed that FDA needs better funding….and provided $2.516 billion, a $158 million in new monies. This is a bit more than 6%. Here is FDA Matters’ analysis of this critical budget battle.

The Senate’s funding level for FDA is the same as the Administration’s request. There was hope that the Senate could find the $55 million more to reach the House level. Even the House’s proposed funding is not nearly enough to meet FDA’s responsibilities in the coming year and the Senate is clearly even further behind with its number. Even so, the Senate’s 6% increase is more than what most domestic federal agencies will receive.

The Senate mark-up proved one important point. Both the Senate and the House agree that FDA needs to be an exception to this year’s tough round of budget-cutting.

There is still a ways to go. The House full committee needs to mark up its bill, and then both bodies will need to consider and approve these appropriations bills. This presumably would occur in September, although it may occur in late July. It looks like the Agriculture/FDA legislation might be one of the first appropriations bills to move through the pipeline. Hopefully it will be enacted into law before the Congress has to pass a Continuing Resolution (September 30 in advance of the new fiscal year, which starts on October 1).

The primary advocacy group for FDA resources, the Alliance for a Stronger FDA, continues to work for the House level or higher.  It is difficult for any agency in this appropriations cycle. Hill deliberations are already sharply skewed by the upcoming 2010 elections. Despite this environment, the FDA’s friends in the Administration, the House and the Senate are still trying hard to get the agency more money for FY 11.  The Alliance is working with them to preserve FDA gains and to raise awareness that FDA is still under-resourced relative to the agency’s responsibilities.

In past years, it would have been safe to assume FDA would receive an increase of $158 million to $214 million. However, none of the current numbers can be relied upon until the House and the Senate reach some understanding about total spending for FY 11.

The Senate is considering proposals that would reduce domestic discretionary spending by either $4 billion or $20 billion. If it is the latter, a large number of domestic programs will face deeper cuts than currently planned. Those who are doing comparatively better may find their gains wiped away. This macro-budgetary risk means the case for FDA must continue to be made and that numbers being discussed now cannot be relied upon.

Below I have provided links to prior columns that discuss why FDA’s needs grow each year and why the agency must be an exception to budget cuts. Also below is a chart comparing FY 10 to the levels proposed by the Alliance, the Administration, the House and the Senate.

For information about adding your voice to those advocating for more FDA resources, go to www.strengthenfda.org or send me a note at sgrossman@strengthenfda.org.

Steven

For purposes of disclosure, I am one of the founders of the Alliance for a Stronger FDA and serve as its deputy executive director. FDA Matters is not affiliated in any way with the Alliance.

FDA: A Bargain at Two Cents Per Day Per American
March 28th, 2010

FDA touches every American many times each day. Today’s investment (2 cents per day per American) is a pittance compared to the benefit of a strong FDA and the risk of an underfunded FDA. There cannot be many agencies in the US government that have such a vast scope of responsibilities and so few dollars to get the job done.

This is the powerful message that the Alliance for a Stronger FDA has been delivering to Capitol Hill. Even still, it will be a difficult year for any federal agency whose mission and responsibilities are growing. Read the rest of this entry »

FDA Needs at Least a $250 Million Increase in FY 2011
March 7th, 2010

The President’s proposal to freeze domestic discretionary programs in FY 2011 (and beyond) will force painful cuts across government and in programs that millions of American rely upon. Even some traditionally-favored agencies, such as NIH, are looking at only small increases. With a proposed 6% increase (about $150 million), FDA would seem to be doing far better than most.

FDA Matters feels strongly that this is not nearly enough. By my calculations, at least a $250 million increase for FDA would be needed, just to achieve the program levels anticipated in the President’s budget request. The Alliance for a Stronger FDA has asked for a $495 million increase, which could be put to good use by the agency. Why is 6% not enough? Read the rest of this entry »

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Status of FY 11 Appropriations for the FDA

Compared to the Alliance for a Stronger FDA’s FY 11 Request

Updated July 16, 2010

Budget Authority Appropriations (does not include user fees)

Some columns may not add due to rounding.

The House has released the total for the FDA, but does not release the allocation until full committee mark-up expected later this month.

For more information about the Alliance for a Stronger FDA:

Ladd Wiley, phone: (202) 887-4083 email:  lwiley@StrengthenFDA.org

Steven Grossman, phone: 1- (301) 539-9660 email:  sgrossman@StrengthenFDA.org

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 at 9:34 pm and is filed under FDA and Congress, FDA Appropriations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.