Legislative Updates

House Passes Minibus Spending Bill with Funding for DODÂ’s Vision Research Program

Legislative Update
June 20, 2019

On June 19, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2740, a $985 billion, four-bill [Defense, Energy and Water, State-Foreign Operations, and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS)] Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 spending package by a vote of 226-203. No Republicans voted for the measure, and seven Democrats voted against it.

The Department of Defense (DOD) portion of the minibus includes Vision Research Program (VRP) funding at $20 million for the second consecutive year.

The spending package now moves to the Senate, which has yet to begin its work on individual FY2020 spending bills. Generally, the Senate Appropriations Committee does not include funding for most DOD medical research programs, but instead accepts the funding levels in the House appropriations bills when the two chambers bills are conferenced.

NAEVR's FY2020 VRP funding request was once again supported by The Independent Budget submitted to Congress by Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) and Military Service Organizations (MSOs) support by which was coordinated by NAEVR member Blinded Veterans Association.