Endocrine Insider
October 1, 2008 

In order to ensure that the government continued to operate after the fiscal year (FY) ended on September 30, 2008, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) that will fund government agencies through March 6, 2009.  Under the CR, most agencies will operate with the same budget for FY 2009 that they received in FY 2008.  As a result, the National Institutes of Health will receive no increase in funding for at least the first five months of the fiscal year.  The President signed the legislation on September 30.

Although many appropriations subcommittees held mark-ups of their bills, no FY 2009 appropriations bill was debated or voted on by either the House of Representatives or the Senate before the end of the fiscal year.  The leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees made a conscious decision to forgo passage of the individual appropriations bills that fund government agencies because the President stated that he would veto any appropriations bill that exceeded his budget request.  The hope of congressional leaders is that a new President will be more willing to sign appropriations bills that address priorities of both Congress and the President.

In an effort to provide additional funds for some programs, including the National Institutes of Health, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Robert Byrd (D-WV) introduced a $56.2 billion economic stimulus package on the afternoon of September 25, 2008.  The package included $1.2 billion to restore some of the purchasing power of NIH that was lost because of inflation in the past five years and the money would have allowed NIH to award at least 3,300 new research project grants.  On September 26, the Senate voted 52-42 in favor of the measure, 8 votes short of the 60 needed for passage.