Injury Center Connection Newsletter
Spring/Summer 2011

Washington Updates

FY 2011 Budget - Senate Appropriators to Start Moving Bills

The Senate does not yet have a discretionary spending cap for fiscal year 2012. On June 27, 2011, Senate Appropriators are preparing to carefully start moving FY 2012 spending bills. Senate appropriators have been holding off on markups, waiting for an agreement on overall discretionary spending to be reached through the ongoing bipartisan debt reduction talks. The Senate Appropriations Committee has 12 bills to complete before the end of the fiscal year in September.

The House has moved forward with marking up their spending bills.  The House LHHS markup is scheduled for July 26, 2011 and the Full Appropriations Committee markup scheduled for August 2, 2011.

FY 2011 Funding

The FY 2011 Continuing Resolution reduced CDC’s base budget authority by $740 million.  This resulted in an overall budget reduction of $5.1 million for the Injury Center, setting our total funding level at $143.7 million. The reduction included two components. First, the President’s FY 2011 budget included a reduction of more than $60 million for CDC-wide administrative savings, resulting in a $2.415 million decrease across all injury prevention and control budget lines. Second, the Rape Prevention and Education program funds were reduced by approximately $2.395 million. More details on specific budget lines can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/fmo/topic/Budget%20Information/index.html.  

FY 2012 Budget

The FY 2012 President’s Budget for NCIPC included $168 Million. The FY 2012 appropriation process has  begun in the House and Senate, although the timelines for a markup are unclear. More information about the House and Senate Appropriations processes can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app12.html.

Congressional Briefings

Since April, NCIPC has participated in three high profile Capitol Hill events: namely, the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) launch of the White House’s comprehensive plan to address national prescription drug abuse, the UN Decade for Action for Road Safety 2011–2020 and the Campaign for Public Health’s Congressional Visit to CDC.

Additionally, NCIPC has worked on five concurrent GAO Investigations that cross all NCIPC Divisions.  The topical areas are:

• Bullying Prevention
• Status of Youth Sports Programs
• Prescription Pain Reliever Abuse
• Elder Abuse Final Report
• Study of Child Fatalities among Children Associates with Child Welfare Systems

Briefing topics covered included: motor vehicle injuries, ignition interlocks, traumatic brain injury, youth violence prevention, teen dating violence, suicide, prescription drug overdose prevention, and the Core Violence and Injury Prevention Program.

Information on recent NCIPC releases and programmatic activities was sent to staff from Senator Tom Udall (D- NM) , Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), Senator Kirstin Gillibrand (D-IL), Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Representative Michael Burgess (R-TX), Representative Nydia Velazquez  (D-NY), Representative Sander Levin (D-MI), and Representative Bill Pascrell (D-NJ). In addition, information on NCIPC’s releases and programmatic activities was also provided to Senate HELP, House Energy and Commerce, Appropriations LHHS Clerks from both the House and Senate, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

NCIPC Briefings and Hill Events
April—June 24, 2011

• Prescription Drug Overdose Release at National Press Club: On April 19th, Dr. Linda Degutis represented CDC at the Administration’s launch of a comprehensive national plan to address prescription drug abuse.  The event was presided over by White House Director of National Drug Control Policy Hon. Gil Kerlikowske, Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services Dr. Howard Koh, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, and DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart.
• Congressional Briefings: On May 10th, Dr. Linda Degutis, Dr. Grant Baldwin, and Ms. Sara Patterson briefed staff from the offices of Senators Frank Lautenberg (NJ) and Tom Udall (NM) on NCIPC activities, including work to reduce motor vehicle occupant injuries and deaths.
• Decade of Action on Global Road Safety Campaign: The United Nations declared a Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011–2020) with worldwide events launched on May 11th. The launch coincided with May’s National Youth Traffic Safety Month (NYTSM) in the United States.  Activities included a morning press event with the release of new traffic safety data (State-Based Costs of Deaths from Crashes) followed by an afternoon program including the Decade of Action for Road Safety EXPO and a Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill.  CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden spoke at the press event and the Congressional Briefing.  Dr. Linda Degutis and other Injury Center leadership attended the Decade of Action campaign launch.
• Campaign for Public Health Congressional Visit to CDC: On May 17th, the Campaign for Public Health brought Congressional staff to visit CDC to learn about programs and activities.  Dr. Robin Ikeda spoke about NCIPC’s work on youth concussions, child maltreatment, and motor vehicle occupant safety.  Staff from 25 Congressional offices participated.
• Congressional Briefing: On May 17th, Dr. Robin Ikeda briefed Congressman Michael Burgess (TX) about NCIPC activities including prevention of motor vehicle injuries, youth violence, and teen dating violence; and the Core Violence and Injury Prevention Program.
• Congressional Briefing on Pediatric Brain Injury: On June 2nd, Ms. Sara Patterson and NCIPC subject matter experts briefed staff from the House Energy and Commerce Committee on pediatric brain injury. Colleagues from NIH, HRSA, and HHS also participated.
• HELP Committee Briefing on TBI: On June 24th, Dr. Lisa McGuire briefed Senator Tom Harkin’s (IA) Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee staff along with staff from Senator Robert Menendez’s (NJ) and Representative Bill Pascrell’s  (NJ) offices. Dr. McGuire discussed CDC’s work in traumatic brain injury with a focus on the concussion management guidelines.