 |
 |
On Friday September 5, the Parkinson's Action Network will be sending out the latest "Action Update" which will include more up to date information on the Senate Labor-HHS bill. The "Action Update" will be posted on the Parkinson's Listserve as well as mailed to advocates around the country. To add yourself to the "Action Update" mailing list, or if you have any questions or comments, please call PAN at 800-850-4726. From Mike Claeys, Parkinsons Action Network "Senate Subcommittee Approves FY99 Spending Bill Tuesday, September 1, 1998; Washington, DC: Today the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) passed it's Appropriations bill for fiscal year 1999. The entire bill totals over $82 billion. In outlining the major portions of the bill, Subcommittee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) gave special attention to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget. Calling the NIH the "crown jewel of the federal government," Specter announced his bill sets the FY99 NIH budget at $15.6 billion -- a $2 billion increase over NIH's FY98 budget. This figure is more than $750 million over the NIH budget approved by the House Appropriations Committee in their version of the FY99 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill. (Remember that the House and Senate will both have to agree on one version of the Labor-HHS bill that may include either of these NIH budget figures, or an entirely new one -- typically a compromise between the House and Senate figures. At some point in the near future, PAN will be calling on the Parkinson's community to contact both the House and Senate and urge them to support the Senate's $2 billion figure for inclusion in the final Labor-HHS. More will be published on that issue at the appropriate time.) In praising the mission and performance of the NIH -- and explaining the large increase -- Senator Specter mentioned some of the important diseases that NIH research is having an impact on -- he mentioned Parkinson's disease fourth, after breast cancer, prostate cancer and Alzheimer's disease. **PLEASE NOTE: None of the text of the FY99 Labor-HHS bill or it accompaning report was made available. Full or partial text will likely be made available on Thursday September 3. The full Senate Appropriations Committee is schedule to mark up the Labor-HHS bill on Thursday September 3. Noting that the Labor-HHS bill is year-in and year-out the most contentious of the 13 annual appropriations bills and usually the last to pass, Senator Specter expressed his hope that the bill would move quickly to the Senate Floor and then into conference committee with their Labor-HHS Subcommittee counterparts in the House. He did not offer any guess at a date. (Please note that although approved by the full Appropriations Committee the House version of the Labor-HHS bill has not yet gone to the House floor for final passage. The House is scheduled to return from recess on Tuesday September 8, and no date has yet been scheduled for the Labor-HHS bill to be considered on the floor.) The best thing interested Parkinson's advocates can do at this time is to contact their Senators and urge support for sufficient appropriations -- $100 million! -- to fully fund the Udall Act in 1999. Although this has been a consistant message, please remember that there are literally hundreds of interests competing for very limited Congressional attention and federal resources, so our message must be loud and persistant to break through the roadblocks and achieve our goal! On Friday September 5, the Parkinson's Action Network will be sending out the latest "Action Update" which will include more up to date information on the Senate Labor-HHS bill. The "Action Update" will be posted on the Parkinson's Listserve as well as mailed to advocates around the country. To add yourself to the "Action Update" mailing list, or if you have any questions or comments, please call PAN at 800-850-4726.