Endocrine Insider
February 21, 2007

President Bush signed the Joint Funding Resolution developed by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees that laid out FY 2007 funding levels for the nine agencies operating under a continuing resolution, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The House passed the spending package by a vote of 286-140 on January 31, and the Senate passed the measure on February 14 by a vote of 81-15.

The funding resolution allocates an additional $620 million to the NIH to reverse a projected decline in new NIH research project awards, instructing the agency to support an additional 500 research project grants and 1,500 first time investigators, and expanding funding for high risk and high impact research.

In addition to the FY 2007 increase for NIH, the National Science Foundation (NSF) received an increase of $335 million and the Department of Energy, Office of Science (DOE-SC) received an increase of $200 million.

With FY 2007 funding levels decided, Congress can now turn its attention to the President’s FY 2008 budget. However, the new Democratic-controlled Congress will set its own funding priorities, which will likely differ significantly from the President’s. Look for updates on the FY 2008 budget process and The Endocrine Society’s advocacy efforts in future issue of Endocrine Insider.