2010 Proposed Federal Budget

President Obama recently unveiled his proposed 2010 federal budget. Unfortunately, it was disappointing to see that the budget generally maintained, but did not increase, the levels of funding for most governmental public health priority programs. The budget for CDC was approximately $6.6 billion, a 0.4% increase from 2009’s budget of approximately $6.3 billion.

A few key laboratory areas did, however, receive greater funding:

▪ FDA funding for food safety was increased. However, there was no sizable increase for CDC activities, most notably PulseNet. To ensure America’s food supply is protected, it’s important that all elements of the food safety infrastructure are adequately funded.
▪ There was a $51 million increase in HIV/AIDS funding, most of which was primarily for point-of-care programs and not for laboratory testing.
▪ It was the third year running that newborne screening activities received dedicated funding.

For more information about the budget, please browse the online document.