Sequestration 2013 - Updated May 17, 2013

Background

• Sequestration refers to the automatic federal spending cuts recently debated Congress, and now a reality.
• Sequestration requires non-defense and defense discretionary spending be reduced by 8-10%. 
• All federal granting agencies are affected in some way, but each federal agency has discretion to cut programs as they see fit. This may result in larger or smaller cuts for us based on their internal preferences and decisions.
• We have posted agency updates in the section below and we will continue to post announcements as they become available.

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute 

May 16, 2013 

• Dr. Gary Gibbons, Director, NHLBI, Status of the NHLBI Payline
• NHLBI Director Messages - web site link
  

National Institutes of Health 

May 8, 2013 

• The following NIH fiscal policies apply in FY 2013..... Read full text of Notice Number NOT-OD-13-064

March 4, 2013

• NIH alert to signing officials on March 4, 2013

February 21, 2013 

• The National Institutes of Health, in an announcement

• NOT-OD-13-043, issued on February 21, states that should a sequestration occur NIH will likely reduce the final FY 2013 funding levels for noncompeting continuation grants and expects to make fewer competing awards to allow the agency to meet the available budget allocation.  The agency notes that, because of the sequestration, already reduced grants for FY 2013 may not be restored to “the full FY 2013 commitment level described in the Notice of Award.

• NIH is already operating under a continuing budget resolution that has prompted the lowering of noncompeting continuation grants by approximately 10 percent for FY 2013 (NOT-OD-13-002).

National Cancer Institute

May 7, 2013

• Director Harold Varmus - Message to Grantees about NCI Funding and Grant Support for FY 2013

March 7, 2013

• Director, Harold Varmus - Initial Statement

Administration for Children and Families

• Commissioner Bryan Samuels letter

Administration for Community Living

March 4, 2013 

In a message to Grants Officers....

As you are likely aware, in accordance with the Budget Control Act of 2011, a series of spending cuts, called sequestration, will cancel approximately $85 billion in budgetary resources across the Federal government for the remainder of the Federal fiscal year.  As a partner with you in accomplishing the Administration for Community Living's mission, we are writing to provide you with information about what this reduction means for the funds provided to your organization.

At this time, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Administration for Community Living are taking every step to mitigate the effects of these cuts, but based on our initial analysis, it is possible that your grants or cooperative agreement awards may be affected.  Examples of this impact could include: not issuing continuation awards, or negotiating a reduction in the scope of your awards to meet the constraints imposed by sequestration. Additionally, plans for new grants or cooperative agreements may be re-scoped, delayed, or canceled depending on the nature of the work and the availability of resources.

To the extent that fiscal year 2013 funds for your grants or cooperative agreements are affected due to these budget cuts, you will be contacted by the appropriate Grant Management Officer with additional details at a later point.   Please note that these budget cuts do not affect grant or cooperative agreement awards made with fiscal year 2012 resources.

Thank you for your continued partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Administration for Community Living, and for your cooperation as we work together to manage these circumstances.

Office of Grants Management
DHHS Administration for Community Living

Health Resources and Services Administration

March 4, 2013

Dear Grantee:

As you are likely aware, in accordance with the Budget Control Act of 2011, a series of spending cuts, called sequestration, will cancel approximately $85 billion in budgetary resources across the Federal government for the remainder of the Federal fiscal year.  As a partner with HRSA, we are writing to provide you with information about what this reduction means for the funds provided to your organization.

At this time, the Department of Health and Human Services and HRSA are taking every step to mitigate the effects of these cuts, but based on our initial analysis, it is possible that your grants or cooperative agreement awards may be affected.  Examples of this impact could include: not issuing continuation awards, not awarding incremental funds on multi-year awards, or negotiating a reduction in the scope of your awards to meet the constraints imposed by sequestration.  Additionally, plans for new grants may be re-scoped, delayed, or canceled depending on the nature of the work and the availability of resources.

To the extent that your grants or cooperative agreement awards are affected due to these budget cuts, you will be contacted by the appropriate Grant Management and/or Project Officer with additional details at a later point.

Thank you for your continued partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services and HRSA and for your cooperation as we work together to manage these circumstances.

Michael J. Nelson
Associate Administrator
Office of Federal Assistance Management
Health Resources and Services Administration

USDA Agricultural Research Service

March 15, 2013

• The USDA Agricultural Research Service letter to UVM's President Sullivan, describes anticipated future reductions to cooperative research agreements.

USAID - Agency for International Development

March 12, 2013 

• USAID, in a letter posted on the Grants.gov website, described potential reductions or termination or current and future agreements.
  

U.S. Department of Energy

March 4, 2013 

• The U.S. Department of Energy provides information for contractors and financial assistance recipients.

National Science Foundation

February 27, 2013

• NSF Director Subra Suresh has issued a statement to presidents of universities, colleges, and other awardee organizations of the NSF. 

Science Works for US

• Science Works For U.S., a project of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and The Science Coalition (TSC) is a good resource for information about the sequestration and science.
  

Last modified May 17 2013 11:38 AM