Bringing to an end the drawn-out negotiations over FY18 federal funding, Congressional leaders released a final omnibus-spending bill late Wednesday. The package allocates $1.3 trillion in FY18 funding across all government accounts and, on account of Congress’s agreement last month to eliminate the sequester, provides big increases for defense, as well as boosts to a number of University priorities, including a significant $3 billion increase for NIH.

The omnibus also includes a few additional policy riders, such as a short term FAA reauthorization, but not as many as expected given this must-pass bill was targeted by many as a vehicle for other issues. More details are below on funding levels and other key issues, as is a look ahead.

Leadership is pushing hard for the bill to move quickly through the House and Senate, given the current continuing resolution expires on Friday, March 23. The House will likely vote on the measure today. Senate consideration is less clear since all members will need to agree to waive certain time requirements for the bill to be completed before Friday’s deadline. It may be that there is a short weekend shutdown or another very short CR to bridge the few days needed to complete legislative action.

As is often the case with must-pass spending bills, the omnibus addresses a number of policy areas beyond funding, including priorities the University has encouraged Congress to consider. Perhaps most notably, the package includes new language prohibiting the Administration from establishing damaging limits on facilities and administrative cost reimbursements on NIH grants, as was proposed by the President last year. In another win for the scientific community – this time for what the omnibus does not include – the package does not contain language that would ban the use of fetal tissue in research. Such language had previously passed the House.

Also left behind as too controversial were provisions to address DACA and potential fixes to the tax reform bill, with the exception of one to address an issue with farming cooperatives. The University will continue to advocate for DREAMers as well as for improvements in the tax bill as the year goes on, though with attention on the Hill quickly turning to the midterm elections, opportunities are increasingly limited until the lame duck session.

Looking Ahead

The FY19 budget and appropriations process is already underway with hearings on the Hill, even as the FY18 process just now wraps up. Even so, it is unlikely that any appropriations work for the coming year will be finalized until after the November elections, meaning the new fiscal year will almost certainly begin with a continuing resolution on October 1 that runs until sometime into late November or, more likely, December. In the meantime, with control of the House potentially up for grabs this election year, it is more probable that Congress will spend more of its time and energy in the coming months on political messaging and posturing than legislative work.

Contact

We will be back in touch when the omnibus passes, as expected. As always, please feel free to reach out to Suzanne Day (suzanne_day@harvard.edu) or Jon Groteboer (jon_groteboer@harvard.edu) with any questions or concerns.