Advocacy at a Glance

Advocacy at a Glance offers you the bullet point summary of current advocacy issues associated with the goals of the Alliance for a Stronger FDA.

• FY 16 Appropriations Nears Finale. Congress now has approved the omnibus appropriations bill and a tax extenders bill that together have been sent to the President. The FY 16 appropriations process is now complete. FDA will have $2.72 billion in budget authority appropriations, a 5% increase over FY 15. The full details are contained in this statement (released by the Alliance to its membership yesterday), including center-by-center allocations and 5-year comparisons. Passage of the FY 16 omnibus appropriations bill clears the way for the about-to-start FY 17 appropriations process. Some initial thoughts on FY 17 are contained in this week’s Analysis and Commentary.

• Path Cleared for Vote on Califf Nomination? One of the obstacles to the nomination of Dr. Califf as FDA commissioner has been a hold placed by Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska. He has now lifted his hold because he has received HHS documents on ACA that he was requesting. It is also possible that Senator Lisa Murkowski might have also been planning to block Califf’s nomination, but that threat is diminished because language was included in the omnibus appropriations bill that will slow FDA action on genetically-engineered salmon. The Senate HELP committee is expected to vote on Dr. Califf when the Senate returns in January. His nomination would then go to a full Senate vote.

• CBER Issues Year-End Report. The director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) has issued a year-end report detailing the accomplishments and perspectives of the Center.

• Best Wishes to Anthony Curry. As the year closes to an end, we say a bittersweet farewell to Anthony Curry, who has worked with the Alliance for almost 8 years. Tony will be joining Aurora Healthcare in Milwaukee, WI, where he will be helping the health system navigate legislative and regulatory issues. Aurora is a health system that serves communities throughout eastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, with 15 hospitals, more than 150 clinics and 70 pharmacies in 30 communities. We wish Tony the best on his new adventure, and will miss him dearly!

• Friday Updates Off for the Holidays. This will the last issue of Advocacy at a Glance and the related Analysis and Commentary for 2015. We will not be publishing on December 25 or January 1. Our next issue will be January 8. In the interim, if you have any questions about FDA funding or resources or about the Alliance, please do not hesitate to e-mail Ladd Wiley and/or Steven Grossman.