Senate Approves Millions in Lupus Funding

UPDATE: After the House of Representatives passed the omnibus on December 23, Congress has now approved $22 million in lupus-specific federal funding for fiscal year 2023, the most ever in a single year. On December 29, President Joe Biden signed the omnibus into law.

Moments ago, the U.S. Senate voted to approve a fiscal year 2023 omnibus spending package which includes $22 million in federal funding for lupus research and education programs. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass the bill tomorrow, clearing the way for it to be signed into law by the president before current government funding expires on Friday.

We are thrilled to announce that the omnibus package passed by the Senate today includes:

• $10 million for the National Lupus Patient Registry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a $500,000 increase over last year, bringing total funding for the program to more than $101 million since its creation in 2003;
• $10 million for the Lupus Research Program at the Department of Defense (DOD) for the fourth consecutive year, bringing total funding for lupus research at the DOD to over $76 million;
• $2 million for the National Lupus Training, Outreach, and Clinical Trial Education Program at the Office of Minority Health (OMH), as well as specific language directing OMH to continue efforts  to increase minority participation in lupus clinical trials;
• $47.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health, an increase of $2.5 billion over fiscal year 2022 for the largest public funder of lupus research in the world.

When this package is signed into law by the president, lupus advocates will have generated more than $201 million in federal funding for lupus-specific programs that are increasing our understanding of lupus and accelerating the search for new treatments for it.

Another Victory for Lupus Advocates

In fiscal year 2013, Congress approved just over $7 million in total funding for lupus research, closing out a 10-year period from 2004 to 2013 that saw $50.3 million in federal funding committed to lupus programs. In the last ten years, from 2014 to the 2023 federal funding package soon to be signed into law, Congress has approved $149.8 million for lupus programs, an increase of over 197 percent compared to the previous 10-year period.  

Lupus advocates have had nearly unprecedented success in generating federal funding for lupus research and education programs. Year after year, lupus advocates continue to tell their stories to their members of Congress and effectively make the case for investing in the fight against lupus.

While it would be easy to take the now-annual success for granted, it is important to remember that when it comes to the federal funding process, success in one year does not guarantee success in the next – and because of that, each year the lupus community brings even greater passion, dedication, and commitment to advocating for these critical programs and striving for even greater victories. We're honored to work alongside lupus advocates in advancing funding and policies to improve the lives of all people living with this disease.

In addition to our network of lupus advocates, we are also grateful for the Congressional Lupus Caucus continuing to lead the fight against lupus on Capitol Hill, and especially its co-chairs Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Bill Keating of Massachusetts, and Andrew Garbarino of New York.

Help Write the Next Success Story

To lend your voice and your story to our advocacy efforts to secure government funding and much more, sign up as an advocate! Signing up as an advocate will also put you first in line to learn when registration for the 2023 National Lupus Advocacy Summit in Washington, DC this April opens in January.