Hill Days: House Completed, Senate Up Next!
This week’s Analysis and Commentary discusses the “Top Ten Challenges Facing FDA.”
Hill Days: House Completed; Senate Up Next. This week, the Alliance completed nearly 40 meetings with the staff of members on the House Appropriations Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Continuing our Hill efforts, we plan Senate meetings on May 2nd and 3rd. Initial focus in the Senate will be on appropriators as well as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. We may have a few slots left next week. If you would like to participate let Steven know by Monday at 10 a.m.
More important, we want to build our list of Alliance members who would like to participate in future Hill meetings. No commitment would be required now; you would just be on a list of people that we call first. Let Steven know of your interest.
This promises to be a challenging appropriations cycle and your voice is important – both for the FDA overall and for optimum funding of areas that most concern you and your membership.
What the Alliance is Telling Congress During Hill Days. Every year, the Alliance holds meetings with House and Senate offices to 1) advocate for increased appropriations for the FDA, and 2) promote understanding of FDA’s expanding mission and growing responsibilities. This builds upon our testimony on FY 24 appropriations here.
Our meetings start with the basics:
Who we are (“all the stakeholders on behalf of the American public”),
Why FDA is so important (“FDA touches every American, every day, multiple times”), and
The need for more resources in FY 24 (“FDA’s growing responsibilities require a budget that grows”).
We then discuss the Alliance’s support for the Administration’s request for $3.914 billion in BA funding for FDA in FY 24. Here are the three main points we make:
FDA provides a core function of government, while carrying out a uniquely difficult mission.
FDA needs more resources each year because of additional responsibilities, increasingly complex science and technology, globalization, and growth in regulated industries.
FDA’s mission and responsibilities are incredibly consequential and visible. It needs resources to protect public health and safety.
The FY 24 Budget and Debt Ceiling: A Confusing Situation. In dramatic fashion, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pulled House Republicans together to pass legislation that sets a low budget ceiling for FY 24 spending and makes changes to a number of federal programs and tax policies. What comes next – and the consequences – have been widely discussed this week but without any consensus.
As described in last week’s Analysis and Commentary (here), House Appropriations Chairperson Kay Granger has set a goal of mark-ups in May and floor action in June. House passage of the budget and debt ceiling legislation makes it possible for her to move forward on that schedule. However, the Committee has not yet announced any mark-ups.
Next Alliance Webinar: FDA Workforce Overview 2023 With Julie Tierney, JD, FDA Chief of Staff. The Alliance’s webinars on the FDA’s FY 24 budget request had one common theme — all five Center Directors and the Director of ORA addressed issues surrounding vacancies, hiring incentives, recruitment, retention, training, and the professional backgrounds most needed by the agency. There was also interest in FDA’s “back to campus” policy and the ramp-up cycles for new employees to become proficient.
To provide a comprehensive overview, Julie Tierney, the FDA’s Chief of Staff, will be the featured speaker on an Alliance webinar scheduled for Monday, June 5, at 1 p.m. Register HERE
Alliance members are encouraged to submit questions in advance to Steven Grossman (sgrossman@strengthenfda.org) so that we can be sure the program is responsive to the information that stakeholders most want to know.
Do You Qualify for a Free Lunch? At the first of the Alliance’s webinar series on FDA’s FY 24 budget request, Steven offered a free lunch to anyone who attended all six. Let him know if you did.
If you missed one or more of the webinars, the transcripts are well worth a read:
CDRH Director Dr. Jeff Shuren (transcript here)
CFSAN Director Dr. Susan Mayne (summary here; transcript here)
CBER Director Dr. Peter Marks (summary here; transcript here)
CDER Director Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni (summary here; transcript here)
CVM Director Ms. Tracey Forfa, J.D. (summary here; transcript here)
ORA Director Dr. Judy McMeekin and Deputy Director Ms. Carol Cave (summary here; transcript here)