Skip to content

Find out the winner of the Shauna M. Sorrells Grant Program

LEARN MORE

G2G Bio Bulletin – March 31, 2026

Federal Legislative Updates
Ohio Legislative Updates
G2G Blog

G2G Bio Bulletin – March 31, 2026

Back to All Posts

April 3, 2026 Update

The SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Bill (S. 3971) was presented to President Trump yesterday. This means:
  1. If he signs it, it becomes law.
  2. If he takes no action, it becomes law after 10 days (excluding Sundays).
  3. If he vetoes the bill, it returns to both chambers of Congress. If two-thirds of both chambers approve it, it becomes law.
Additionally, earlier this morning the FY 2027 President’s Budget proposal was released. Some highlights:
  • Proposes a 10% cut in non-defense discretionary spending and an increase in defense spending to $1.5 trillion, $500 billion more than $1 trillion sought for fiscal year 2026. Investment in the "readiness and health of the force” is specifically called out as a defense priority.
  • Proposes a 12.5% decrease in HHS spending relative to FY 2026:
    • Cuts NIH funding by $5 billion, in part by proposing to eliminate three ICs - the Fogarty International Center, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the National Center for Complementary, and Integrative Health
    • Cuts ASPR funding by $356 million. However, emphasizes the need to continue to support biodefense and medical countermeasures programs, the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) and the Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve (SAPIR)
    • Stands up various MAHA initiatives
  • Calls out advancing biotechnology as a priority for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
As a reminder, this is a statement of the Administration’s budget priorities. Congress ultimately still writes the appropriations bills and sets funding levels. The substantial cuts proposed in the President’s FY 2026 proposal were largely rejected in the final funding packages. We will share more details after we have done a complete read through of the proposal. Please feel free to respond to this email with questions.

G2G Highlights

  • G2G Founder and CEO Liz Powell was in San Diego for the Health Executive & Research Summit (HERS) where she was a panelist for a discussion on Building and Scaling Women’s Health Ventures.
  • G2G participated in last Wednesday’s Biotech Across America State Symposium co-led by the National Security Commission on Biotechnology (NSCEB), the Engineering Biology Research Consortium and the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).

Updates from Washington

Congress: Both the House and Senate are in a two week recess for the Easter holiday.
  • Appropriations: The FY 2027 President’s Budget is expected to be published at the end of this week on April 3. It is expected to request a significant increase in defense spending. In the meantime lawmakers have still not resolved FY 2026 funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Senate unanimously passed a bill to fund most of DHS. However, House Republicans refused to back the Senate proposal, and passed their own stopgap DHS funding measure.
  • SBIR/STTR: The bill reauthorizing SBIR/STTR programs that passed Congress has yet to be formally presented to the President. A veto threat linked to unrelated matters appears to be holding up this procedural step.
  • U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPTF): A group of 19 Democratic Senators sent a letter last week to HHS Secretary Kennedy, calling for the USPTF to restart its work in reviewing evidence in preventive medicine, after not having met for a year.
  • Surgeon General: Nominee Casey Means appears to lack votes from at least three Republican Senators. If Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair Bill Cassidy also comes out against her, the nomination will fail.
  • Insulin: A bipartisan group of Senators have introduced a bill to cap the cost of insulin at $35 per month for individuals with insurance, and create a pilot to provide it at the same cost to the uninsured.
  • Reconciliation: Congressional Republicans may pursue a second party line package on tax and spending items, that could potentially include measures to address Medicaid and Medicare fraud. This comes as Administration officials including Vice President JD Vance and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz have announced actions investigating states for healthcare fraud.

Administration & Agencies:

  • CDC
    • The Administration has missed the deadline to name a CDC Director nominee, a statutory 210 days after the firing of former Director Susan Monarez. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya will continue to helm the agency "acting in the capacity of the director". In a town hall with agency staff last week, he indicated that he did not expect further reductions in force and hinted at the unveiling of a new strategic plan for the agency.
    • Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP): Dr. Robert Malone, an ally of Secretary Kennedy will leave ACIP after a federal judge halted the panel’s changes to childhood vaccination schedules.
  • CMS
    • The agency is receiving substantial criticism from health and patient advocacy groups over a proposed rule the agency released last month that would change the structure of essential health benefitsunder the ACA and require states to shoulder  greater financial burdens. Coverage for screenings, chronic disease management and fertility treatments may be impacted if the rule goes into force. Concurrently, a group of Democratic Senators including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sent a letter to Administrator Oz demanding he withdraw the rule citing among other things the potential proliferation of "junk coverage" plans.
  • White House, Other HHS Divisions & Departments:
    • HHS Secretary Kennedy announced the formation of an 18-person volunteer panel intended to help the administration in “improving, strengthening and modernizing U.S. healthcare.” It will convene later this year.
    • President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST): President Trump announced the appointment of technology leaders to this panel, including Jensen Huang, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison. PCAST will focus on opportunities and challenges that emerging technologies present for the American workforce.
    • 340B Program: A coalition of drug makers have asked a federal court to reverse an order that prevented them from joining the government in defending the now withdrawn rebate pilot program, against a lawsuit brought forth by hospital groups. This comes as over 90 Members of Congress from both parties have signed a letter to appropriations leaders asking that they prohibit funds from being used to support a future rebate program.
    • MFN Pricing: The Administration has reportedly developed draft text to codify pricing policy that is aligned with deals it has made with pharmaceutical companies.