Millions in Lupus Funding Advanced by House Committee
Moments ago, the Committee on Appropriations in the U.S. House of Representatives passed their fiscal year 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) appropriations bill. Once again, the Committee has demonstrated their strong commitment to funding lupus priorities, including:
- $10.5 million for the National Lupus Patient Registry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an increase of $1 million over fiscal year 2022;
- $2 million for the National Lupus Training, Outreach, and Clinical Trial Education Program at the Office of Minority Health (OMH);
- $47.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health, an increase of $2.5 billion over last year for the largest public funder of lupus research in the world.
If enacted into law, total funding for the National Lupus Patient Registry would reach more than $102 million since the Lupus Foundation of America and its advocates led the fight to create the program in 2003. Additionally, this represents the sixth consecutive year the Committee has approved a funding increase of at least $500,000 for the Registry.
While this is only one of the first steps in a long road towards finalizing funding for fiscal year 2023, it once again demonstrates the power of lupus advocates who share their stories with their members of Congress and advocate for programs just like these. Earlier this year, lupus advocates met with appropriators to ensure these programs would be funded as part of the Foundation’s Advocacy Leadership Symposium.
We are also grateful to our champions in the Congressional Lupus Caucus who lead our fight on Capitol Hill, including the Caucus Co-chairs - Representatives Bill Keating (D-MA), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY).
Next Steps
The legislation is expected to be considered by the full House of Representatives in July. The fiscal year 2023 Defense appropriations bill will also be brought to the House floor in July after the Committee advanced it last week and included an additional $10 million for the Lupus Research Program. The Senate has yet to begin its work on fiscal year 2023 funding legislation.
To ensure you don’t miss a future update or opportunity to reach out to your members of Congress, be sure to sign up as an advocate!