The AAMC submitted funding recommendations for federal health and science agencies for fiscal year (FY) 2024 during the week of March 13. These recommendations were shared with Congress following the release of President Joe Biden’s FY 2024 budget request [refer to Washington Highlights, March 10].
The AAMC joined nearly 400 members of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, convened by the association, in urging Congress to provide at least $51 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) base budget, a $3.5 billion (7.3%) increase over the comparable FY 2023 program level. The signatories thanked Congress for its historic bipartisan support of the NIH and added, “The federal investment in this lifesaving work in labs across the country also has a multiplier effect in local and regional economies, catalyzes new industries, enhances the U.S.’s global competitiveness, establishes viable career paths, and generates additional high quality jobs in communities nationwide.”
The coalition also noted that as the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) ramps up its work in targeted research areas that the group’s “broad-based, national community of diverse stakeholders is unanimous in emphasizing that ... any funding for ARPA-H should supplement, rather than supplant, the essential foundational investment in the NIH.”
Through the Coalition for National Science Funding, the AAMC sent letters to House and Senate appropriators urging at least $11.9 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in FY24. The funding level would represent a $2.4 billion or 25% increase over FY 2023. The coalition of over 140 supporters highlighted opportunities to utilize increased funding including competing in critical emerging technology, empowering domestic talent, rebuilding the United States’ science and engineering infrastructure, and supporting the new technology directorate.
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are expected to begin holding hearings on the twelve annual spending bills at the end of March.