NIH boost moves forward

The NIH is a step closer to getting a $150 million boost by September. Last night (June 19) the House of Representatives passed a supplementary 2008 appropriations bill that includes a hefty chunk to the agency. Of $400 million that the Senate snuck into a bill linkurl:last month;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54650/ intended to support the Iraq war and disaster relief, $150 million will now go to the NIH, The Chronicle of Higher Education linkurl:reported.;http://chronicle.com/news/article/4714/spending-bill-would-provide-400-million-extra-for-science-research-and-education The remaining money will be split up between NASA and the National Science Foundation. The bill now returns to the Senate next week for a final vote, and the President has said he will sign it. This week the House Appropriations Committee linkurl:passed a spending bill;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54756/ for 2009 that would boost the NIH budget by $1.2 billion.