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.

• Next Funding Battle: Congress Must Deal with Budget Caps. Because the continuing resolution extends funding through December 8, Congress does not face its usual end-of-the-fiscal-year crunch at the end of September. The critical next step is for Congress to deal with the FY 18 spending caps required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). If the CR were to be continued for the full year (at FY 17 levels), a sequestration (across-the-board reduction) would be required to cut aggregate defense spending by $2 billion and non-defense spending by $3 billion. If the Congress were to enact the House-passed FY 18 omnibus, sequestration of defense spending would be $72 billion, a 13% cut from proposed levels, but non-defense programs (already cut under the omnibus) would not require a sequester.

• FDA’s Long-Term Resource Needs Are Growing and Substantial. This week’s Analysis and Commentary looks at the resource challenges faced by FDA over the next year.

• Further Information on GSA Review of FDA’s Long-term Space Requirements. As previously described, the General Services Administration is updating FDA’s master plan with an eye toward eventually consolidating more FDA personnel at the White Oak Campus. We received a number of questions about timing. The GSA “environmental impact statement” will be completed in a year, to be followed by development of further design and cost specifications. Ultimately, this might (not will) result in a proposal to Congress to fund construction (which would be part of GSA’s funding, not FDA’s). Given the long and uncertain timeframe, our efforts will be limited to occasional updates to keep the stakeholder community informed.

• Alliance Hill Day a Success. On September 19, the Alliance met with the staff of House and Senate appropriators to express our thanks for supporting FDA in the FY 18 cycle and to lay the groundwork for the FY 19 cycle. Every meeting was also an opportunity to remind Congress of the breadth and depth of support for a well-funded FDA. In particular, we were encouraged to keep making our case for FDA funding in the coming weeks and to stress that FDA is a priority above others. All Alliance members should remind their own Representatives and Senators that strong FDA funding is a matter of public interest and should be protected.

• Reminder: Please Put Alliance Dues in Your Organization’s 2018 Budget Plan.  If you need more information, please contact Eden.