Top senators are hoping they can reach an elusive agreement and pass major legislation to speed up the delivery of new cures after lawmakers return to work next week.
The legislation, which would be the companion to the House’s 21st Century Cures Act, which passed last year, has been stalled in the Senate over major disagreements over funding for the National Institutes of Health. However, aides familiar with the negotiations say lawmakers are optimistic about reaching an agreement to pass the legislation in September.
“A deal is possible and likely if it is bipartisan and generates broad support,” a Senate committee aide said.
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., a major leader of the House effort, and top Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, are in talks with the White House and top Democrats Rep. Frank Pallone, R-N.J. and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on “ways to pass the 21st Century Cures legislation in September,” the aide said.
Alexander is the chairman and Murray the top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which has been spearheading the Senate effort on the legislation. Upton is the chairman and Pallone the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Earlier this year, the HELP committee cleared about 18 bills aimed at speeding up approval of new medical devices and drugs. However, senators on the committee couldn’t reach an agreement on funding for NIH. The House version included a $10 billion funding boost for the research institute spread out over five years.
Democrats want to increase mandatory funding annually by $5 billion. They say that would help create a consistent stream of funding for the research agency, which has been underfunded in recent years.
But Republicans have balked at a large mandatory funding stream that must be maintained every year. They are more open to a discretionary funding boost, which can be changed annually.
The negotiations center on a one-time NIH innovation fund that would help increase research for medical discoveries. A price is not known.
While some lawmakers are optimistic, another Senate aide said it appears unlikely the legislation will get passed in September.
Research advocacy organizations have been promoting the cures legislation and know the stakes are high this month for final approval.
“It is not going to be easy for Congress to get the legislation across the finish line this fall, but ‘easy’ has never been the litmus test for what’s smart or what’s right,” said Mary Woolley, president and CEO of the group ResearchAmerica.
Congress has a full plate when it returns as it battles over funding to fight the Zika virus. A $1.1 billion funding package passed the House in July but stalled in the Senate over Democrats’ objections to certain provisions.
Since Congress adjourned in July, more than 50 cases of local transmission of the virus have been found in Florida.
Lawmakers also have a pressing deadline to get a new continuing resolution to fund the government approved before the fiscal year expires Sept. 30.
Congress is in session until Sept. 30, and then doesn’t return until Nov. 14, after the elections. When Congress does return, it will hold a lame-duck session for a few weeks.
