House Mark-up for FY 20 Very Pleasing

As noted in this week’s Advocacy at a Glance, the Alliance is pleased with the House subcommittee mark-up. A 6% increase (+ $184 million) is an excellent result. Further, it demonstrated the subcommittee’s continued strong support of the FDA and its capacity to be a problem-solver for our nation.While supporting the House position, we will continue to point out to Congress the many unfunded opportunities for FDA to provide even greater value to the American people. Much of that is contained in the Alliance “ask” for FY 20, which is here.While we have some information from the subcommittee mark-up, many program funding details will not be available until the full committee mark-up and the subsequent release of the committee report. The earliest the full committee mark-up can occur is June 4 (the first Tuesday after Congress returns from Memorial Day recess).Meantime, we have provided a table that breaks down the BA portion of the House subcommittee mark-up by center and budget line. This preliminary analysis done by the Alliance is based on the subcommittee summary, the bill text, and information contained in the President’s Budget Request. It should be accurate to ± $3 million per budget line, but cannot be guaranteed to be that precise. Please treat the numbers as estimates showing trends, but not definitive analysis.We also have some insight based on the remarks made at the subcommittee mark-up. Full committee chairwoman, Nita Lowey, pointed to the Committee’s efforts to

ensure the FDA is properly funded to meet the growing needs of regulating our food, medicines, and more.

Subcommittee Chairman, Sanford Bishop, summarized:

For the Food and Drug Administration, the bill provides $3.26 billion in discretionary funding, which is $185 million above the FY 2019 level. Increased funding is dedicated to fighting rare cancers, laying the foundation for more efficient generic drug reviews, improving our response to foodborne illness outbreaks, and the continued implementation of the Food Safety and Modernization Act.

For more information about the Alliance’s positions and analysis, contact Steven Grossman, the Alliance’s Deputy Executive Director: by e-mail at sgrossman@strengthenfda.org or by phone at 301-539-9660.Editorial note: The Analysis and Commentary section is written by Steven Grossman, Deputy Executive Director of the Alliance for a Stronger FDA.