S. 2658
ACCELERATING
BIOMEDICAL
RESEARCH ACT
Presentation by
Adrienne Hallett
Clerk, Subcmte on Labor, HHS, Education
US Senate Appropriations Committee
Why do we need this bill?

Since the end of the doubling in 2003,



NIH has lost 20% of its purchasing power to inflation.
The application success rate is now at an all-time low. From 1980 to 2003, the
last year of the doubling, the grant application success rate ranged between 25
and 35 percent. By 2013, the grant success rate had fallen to 16.8 percent.
The United States has decreased its investment, from 0.215 percent of GDP in
2003 to 0.174 percent in 2013.
Why do we need this bill?
"While the scientific opportunities have never been more exciting than
right now, the stress on the biomedical community in the United States
has never been more severe. Many young investigators are on the
brink of giving up because of the difficulty of getting support.”
Dr. Francis Collins to the USA TODAY Editorial Board
Doesn’t NIH have a lot of support?
Yes, Congress overwhelmingly supports NIH on a bipartisan basis. But
when it comes to spending more money….
Bi- PARTISAN Support


July 11, 2013. Senator Moran offers an amendment to increase
NIH by $1.4 billion, offset with cuts to ACA.
Failed on a party line vote.
March 12, 2014. Senator Durbin introduces a bill to guarantee 5%
increases annually for NIH and other science agencies. No offset.
12 co-sponsors, all Democrats.
Goals of the bill
“Show Me The Money”
S. 2658 creates a budget cap adjustment for NIH in FY 2015-2021.
The bill includes a trigger of $29.9 billion, after which appropriators can provide up to $46.2 billion.
Common Questions
aka. I don’t speak budget. Help!
Does it score?
No.
This bill changes the budget in the future so additional appropriations
can be made. This bill does not appropriate any funding, nor does it
guarantee that the Appropriations Committee will appropriate the
additional funding.
That sounds gimmicky. Should it score?
No.
Study after study shows that every dollar invested in NIH brings $1.80 to
$3.20 in new economic activity. And that doesn’t count the amount of
money we save in Medicare when NIH finds ways to prevent or treat
illnesses. Those treatments only increase in value with baby boomers
aging.
Even if corporate tax rates were reduced, the bill more than
pays for itself.
How will the money be divided?
Just like it is now.
Funding will be provided through the annual LaborHHS appropriations bill and allocated amongst the
institutes and centers or trans-NIH initiatives, as is
currently the practice.
How common are budget cap adjustments? Is it
appropriate for NIH?
There are three cap adjustments currently authorized:
1) Program integrity in Social Security;
2) Fraud fighting at the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services;
3) Government-wide disaster response and recovery.
What happens after 7 years?
The bill amends the budget caps until 2021 because that is the last
year of the Budget Control Act.
As of now, there is no 2022 budget to amend.
When the budget is written for 2022 and beyond, Congress will
have a chance to continue the cap adjustment or build the funding
into the baseline.
This sounds like a pipe dream. Does it have any
chance at all?
I think so. Senator Harkin thinks so.
Republicans want more money for NIH, but they don’t want to break the budget caps.
Democrats want more money for NIH but they don’t want to continue cutting social services and
education.
This bill would allow both sides to win.
What’s the bottom line?
Please stop talking. We have questions.
Okay,
what do you want to know?