The National Institutes of Health received a 3% increase in funds in the draft 2009 budget, released today (Feb 23) by the US House of Representatives, giving the agency a total of $30.3 billion, ScienceInsider reports. Adjusted for inflation, the sum essentially leaves the agency's funding flat.

The announcement comes after last week's decision to provide a two-year infusion of $10 billion for the NIH as part of the economic stimulus bill, unrelated to the annual budget.

National Science foundation will receive a 7% bump, to $6.49 billion.

While the NIH received the biggest boost in the stimulus package, the physical sciences won out in this round. The Department of Energy's Office of Science is slated to receive $4.8 billion--a 20% increase from last year.

The 2008 budget expired in October, and agencies have been working off a temporary budget since then. The current draft budget will now be subject to a vote by both the House and the Senate.


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