 |
 |
From the Parkinson's Action Network - 800-850-4726 [log in to unmask] ACTION UPDATE August 12, 1999 Parkinson's Disease and the FY 2000 Appropriations Process Background Each year, Congress and the President must reach agreement on thirteen spending bills — or "appropriations" bills — which together make up the federal budget for the next fiscal year. Though rarely a smooth process, current negotiations on the FY 2000 appropriations bills are particularly difficult due in large part to strict spending limits imposed by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. These budget "caps" put FY 2000 funding levels below those for FY 1999 (except for spending for the Department of Defense which was increased), which could result in severe cuts in some programs to pay for sustained funding or increases in select others. Despite the limitations, prior to its scheduled August break, Congress approved a majority of the FY 2000 appropriations bills — 11 of 13 in the House and 9 of 13 in the Senate. The one bill languishing in both the House and Senate is the always contentious funding for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (referred to as the Labor-HHS bill). Because it includes the FY 2000 budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — the primary source for federal medical research funding — the Labor-HHS appropriations bill is especially important to advocates of increased Parkinson's disease research. What Spending Limits Mean for the NIH and Parkinson's Research As a way of circumventing the spending caps on other appropriations bills, legislators have diverted funds allocated to Labor-HHS. Thus, the already underfunded Labor-HHS bill has had an additional $4.5 billion removed from it to enable other spending bills to advance. The result is that the amount of money currently available for the Labor-HHS bill is $15.2 billion below last year's allocation, despite the much-discussed budgetary surplus. This situation requires Congress to find additional cuts in other Labor-HHS spending to allow the $2.3 billion increase in the NIH budget needed to keep it on pace to double in five years. Yet this remains an important goal. To capitalize on research opportunities and fulfill the mandate of the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Act of 1997, the Parkinson's community is urging an additional $75 million allocation for NIH — $50 million for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and $25 million for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Parkinson's advocates across the nation must unite and call on Congress to honor its commitment and fund essential and long-overdue Parkinson's-focused research. _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com