APLU Statement on House Subcommittee’s Passage of FY18 Labor-HHS Bill

Washington, DC – Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) President Peter McPherson today released the following statement regarding the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies’ passage of its Fiscal Year 2018 bill.

“APLU is grateful to the leadership of Chairman Cole, Ranking Member DeLauro, and the entire subcommittee membership for their work. We are very pleased with the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies inclusion of language in its Fiscal Year 2018 bill that protects facilities and administrative (F&A) support for NIH research projects. F&A costs are essential to conducting research and the language in the bill will help ensure that cutting edge biomedical research will be able to continue. We are also pleased that the subcommittee increased the NIH appropriation by $1 billion – a great continuation of recent efforts to reverse cuts of the past by boosting support for much-needed biomedical research that also grows our innovation economy. This is a much better direction than what others have proposed.

“While we know there are tough decisions every year, and we recognize that the Subcommittee’s allocation was $5 billion lower than last year, we express concern about the rescission of $3.3 billion from the Pell Grant surplus, which puts future funding for the program at greater risk. At the same time we are appreciative that instead of sharply reducing or eliminating programs as others suggested, the subcommittee increased funding for TRIO and GEAR UP, while level-funding Work Student and Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants. The programs are critical to expanding access to higher education, providing opportunity for individual economic mobility, and building the workforce necessary for U.S. global competitiveness.”