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Policy Corner: Countdown to the President’s Release of His FY 2011 Budget Proposal
As we draw closer to the unveiling of the President's Fiscal Year 2011 budget proposal on Feb. 1, 2010, the biomedical research community believes the President will propose to hold the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) FY 2011 budget relatively flat. This thinking is mainly due to an increasing awareness on the part of President Obama that his party must display fiscal constraint as Congress (where Democrats are currently in the majority) prepares to face the voters in the November midterm elections. Therefore, President Obama's deficit-cutting plans, which will include proposals to slow or freeze government spending, are expected to be featured prominently in the FY 2011 budget he will submit to Congress on Feb. 1.
In spite of this challenging macroeconomic environment, representatives from patient groups, scientific and medical societies, research institutions, and industry organizations are meeting to ensure that the broader biomedical research community is united around a specific budget recommendation for NIH in FY 2011 that will allow scientists to build on the investments that were made possible through the $10.4 billion NIH received through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). One such study is looking at how physical exercise can prevent disability in older Americans. It is the largest clinical trial ever funded by the National Institute on Aging.
At this stage of the "negotiations" that are taking place within the community, many of the biomedical research advocates are beginning to coalesce around a funding recommendation for NIH in FY 2011 that would ensure that the agency's budget does not lose ground once ARRA dollars are spent. Accomplishing this goal would mean a budget for NIH of between $35-37 billion in FY 2011. As a reminder, NIH's FY 2010 budget is $31 billion. There are three key components to the community's recommended increase:
- An increase equal to half of NIH's ARRA dollars that were specified for research ($4.2 billion);
- an increase to account for biomedical inflation (approximately 3 percent); and
- a percentage increase to allow for growth in NIH's overall budget (approximately 3-5 percent).
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