FY 2008 Presidential Budget Released,
Includes Significant Funding Reductions for Drug and Alcohol Prevention, Education, and Treatment Programs
On February 5th, President Bush released his FY 2008 budget, targeting a number of federal programs for either elimination or
substantial cuts. The President’s budget is intended to serve as a blueprint for Congress as it begins the 2008 fiscal year
spending process for agencies in the federal government. Apart from the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) Block Grant
which would receive funding similar to the proposed FY 07 level, many federal drug and alcohol treatment, prevention and education programs received
requests for significantly lower levels of funding as compared with the FY 2007 Continuing Resolution (CR) that is funding many federal programs at
FY 2006 levels. Although Congress has not yet completed the FY 2007 appropriations process, it is expected that most
programs, including those that fund alcohol and drug prevention, treatment, and education services, will receive funding level to fiscal year 2006.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) Overall, the President’s FY
2008 budget requests that programs in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) receive funding cuts of $158.7
million. The President’s budget request for the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SAPTBG) program would hold
the program at the current funding level of $1.7586 billion.
The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
(CSAT):
The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) would receive $352.1 million, a decrease of $46.8 million from the FY 2007
CR. CSAT’s budget request includes an $11.5 million increase to the Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral and Treatment (SBIRT)
program, a $6.5 million decrease to the Pregnant and Postpartum Women program, and a $9.9 million decrease to the Children/Adolescent/Family
Programs. CSAT’s Criminal Justice Activities portfolio, which includes the Drug Court and Young Offender Reentry Programs, would receive
a $13.7 million increase under the President’s budget proposal. SAMHSA’s budget description notes that this increase would support
additional Drug Court grants to help fund alcohol and drug addiction treatment services for individuals referred by the court. In addition, the
funding requested would support reentry services for young people who are released from correctional settings.
The FY 2008 funding recommendation for CSAT also includes a request for $98 million to continue funding for the
Access to Recovery (ATR) program. The ATR program is a voucher program administered by States and Tribal Organizations. The
President’s ATR funding request includes $25 million to support methamphetamine addiction treatment and recovery support services. The
Methamphetamine portion of the Access to Recovery program will focus on those States where epidemiological data and treatment data indicate high
methamphetamine prevalence and treatment prevalence. The ATR program is expected to receive continued funding for the 2007 fiscal year.
Language in the FY 2007 spending bill approved by the House of Representatives is silent on how SAMHSA should spend its funds, including $98 million
of continued funding for the ATR program.
The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
(CSAP):
Under the President’s budget, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) would receive $156.5 million, a cut of $36.4
million. CSAP’s Strategic Prevention Framework Incentive Grant program would be cut by $10.1 million. Four CSAP programs, the
Evidence Based Practices, the Center for the Advancement of Prevention Technologies, Dissemination/Training, and Best Practices Program Coordination
programs, would be eliminated.
The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) State Grants
Program:
The President’s budget also calls for a significant cut to the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) State Grants Program,
which supports community-based prevention programming through the Department of Education. Under the President’s budget proposal, the
SDFSC State Grants Program would receive $100 million, a $255 million cut from the FY 2007 CR. In the last two federal budgets, the
President has recommended that funding for this program be zeroed out.
The National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and Drug Abuse
(NIDA):
Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) would receive $437 million and $1 billion, respectively, representing one million increases for both Institutes over
funding levels in the FY 2007 CR. NIAAA will continue to focus on the genetics, neurobiology, and environmental factors that underlie alcohol
addiction. Among the Institute's priorities are looking at how adolescent drinking, and especially heavy drinking, can affect brain
structure and function by determining the short- and long-term effects of drinking on brain development. NIDA
priorities will include expanding its portfolio to investigate the social brain, to undertake additional studies on genetics, molecular biology,
behavioral pharmacology and brain imaging, and to continue supporting targeted research on how drug abuse treatment and criminal justice systems
interact through the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Research Studies (CJ-DATS).
Update on FY 2007 Funding Process:
The FY 2007 funding process continues in Congress; on January 31st, the House of
Representatives approved a $463.5 billion omnibus spending bill for the 2007 fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2006 and will run until September
30, 2007. The spending bill includes programs in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Justice. Under
the House-approved legislation, most programs, including those that fund alcohol and drug prevention, treatment, and education services, would
receive funding level to fiscal year 2006 amounts. The National Institutes of Health would receive a funding increase under this
House-approved spending bill; however, it is unclear whether NIDA and NIAAA would receive additional funding under this legislation. The
FY 2007 CR is set to expire on February 15th. The Senate is expected to take up legislation identical to the House-approved legislation in
early February and it has been reported that President Bush is expected to sign the measure into law once the Senate approves passage of the
legislation.
The Congressional Budget Committees begin hearings on the President’s FY 2008 Budget this week and
Congress will begin developing its own budget in the coming months.
For more information on the FY 08 Budget please visit:
SAMHSA: http://www.samhsa.gov/Budget/FY2008/SAMHSA08CongrJust.pdf
NIDA: http://www.drugabuse.gov/Funding/Budget08.html
The White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/
