Congress Approves Funding for Autism
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
By: Carin Yavorcik

FY 2008 appropriations pass

Congressional leadership released the final version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007 early on December 17. In it, Congress provided $37 million for the Health Resources and Services Administration autism program, which includes full funding under the Combating Autism Act. Additionally, Congress also provided full funding - $16.5 million - for the CDC’s program and $1 million for the Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee.

Though Congress imposed a mandatory across-the-board cut of 1.7 percent for all programs under the bill, the funding levels for autism were not changed from the original Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill, which failed last November. Unfortunately, the $2 million appropriated to Lifespan Respite was not included in the final version.