Budget season on Capitol Hill is always a complicated time. It’s a tug-of-war between funding priorities and fiscal responsibility. Often, budget debates end up in a stalemate and the government shuts down. However, for the first time in 22 years, the president signed the fiscal year 2019 Labor Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations package before the September 30 budget deadline.
The spending package provides a $2 billion increase from 2018 for the National Institutes of Health, including a $4.9 million increase for the National Institute of Nursing Research and a funding increase of $179.1 million for the National Cancer Institute.
Additional funding was designated for cancer registries ($2 million), skin cancer ($875,000), ovarian cancer research ($500,000), and Johanna’s Law ($500,000). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Program received level funding.
ONS actively advocates for annual federal funding increases for nursing and cancer research to help find cures and treatments for cancer and to strengthen the nursing workforce and profession. Join your voice to ONS’s advocacy efforts and make a difference for your patients, profession, and colleagues.