Healey: Trump plans to cut NIH funding a matter of life and death
Photo | Courtesy of Colin A. Young, State House News Service
Gov. Maura Healey
Gov. Maura Healey plans to tell business leaders Wednesday morning that the Trump administration's plan to cut NIH funding is a matter of life or death for residents, in addition to being a potentially devastating threat to the Massachusetts economy.
"Ultimately, these cuts will cost people’s lives – people who have cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart disease, and more. That’s not hyperbole, it’s a fact. This affects everyone, and everyone must understand what is at stake," the governor plans to say in her speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday morning, according to a portion of her prepared remarks shared by her office.
"So I need all of your help. We need to be willing to get out and speak up. We need to show the harm these cuts will do to everyday people and to your businesses. The strength of Massachusetts has always been our ability to come together and work together when we face a threat."
The governor on Tuesday pulled together top health care, life sciences and academic leaders for a private State House meeting to discuss threats to NIH and federal funding. She spoke with the News Service after the meeting about how science and research is a major part of the Bay State's "knowledge-based economy" that affects thousands of jobs throughout the economy.
Healey plans in her chamber remarks to express pride in leading "the state that leads the world in producing cures for heartbreaking and deadly diseases," which she attributes to research performed at hospitals and universities here, successful companies, and the state's position as leader in NIH funding per capita.
"That research, those cures, those jobs – are all put at risk by Trump and Musk’s cuts to NIH funding. The immediate impact is a billion dollars of funding to our institutions. The full hit to our economy will be much worse. Every dollar invested in research returns $2-3 in economic activity. And that means every dollar cut is $2-3 more that is lost," Healey's chamber address says.
NIH provided $3.46 billion to 219 Massachusetts organizations in fiscal 2024, according to Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office. The NIH announced early this month a move to limit the amount of money from its funding available for so-called indirect costs -- which it defines as covering "facilities" and "administration" -- at 15 percent of new grants. That change, agency officials said, is meant to ensure taxpayer dollars are directed primarily toward research costs instead of related overhead.
According to the White House, "the federal government has been paying an exorbitantly high rate" and the new NIH indirect costs policy "is in line with what research institutions receive from private foundations."
"All kinds of companies and organizations will feel it," the governor's remarks say. "Lab equipment makers across the supply chain. Professional services for intellectual property and real estate. Construction companies and banks that provide financing. Life science companies – not only the PhD scientists but the lab technicians and the manufacturing staff. Already, universities are halting enrollment of new grad students and postdocs – that’s the pipeline of future scientists."
The governor's remarks add, "The only one benefiting here is China – which, we hear, is already recruiting our faculty members who are losing funds."
Healey will also highlight her signing of an economic development law last year, emphasize the need to make life more affordable here especially when it comes to energy bills, efforts to make housing more affordable, initiatives to make it easier for companies to do business here, and her proposal for an $8 billion transportation infrastructure plan, according to her office.
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