FDA is one step closer to increased budget for 2009. Source: Piper Report

The Senate Appropriations Committee has unanimously passed an appropriations markup measure, providing the FDA with a $2.04 billion fiscal 2009 budget—$324.6 million more than the agency initially received for fiscal 2008.

The measure must not be allowed to fail because the FDA is a “firewall for our citizens,” according to Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., a member of the appropriations committee, said.

“The increase in the FDA budget means the agency has, for the first time, a budget of more than $2 billion,” said Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, another committee member. “The FDA is in the front line. It is also in the front line of research.”

No action is scheduled on the House measure for the agency’s 2009 budget, which passed the Agriculture Subcommittee on June 19, according to FDA News. It includes a total of about $2.1 billion for the FDA.