The FY2005 labor, education, and health and human services budget passed by Congress last month has mostly good news for alcohol and other drug-related programs: significant dollar increases for most programs tempered only somewhat by a .83-percent across-the-board reduction ordered by lawmakers.

The keystone Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant will be funded at $1.789 billion next year (minus the .83-percent reduction), up a modest $10 million over 2004 and in line with the amount recommended by the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress also agreed to sustain the $100 million in annual funding for President Bush's Access to Recovery treatment voucher program, part of the $426-million FY2005 budget for the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). Overall, CSAT's budget for next year was set at $426 million less the .83-percent reduction, up $7 million from 2004.

The budget of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention was bumped up $2 million, cresting the $200-million level for the first time (on paper, anyway, as the $200.4 appropriation will be slightly reduced along with all other federal programs).

At the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse continued to receive strong support from Congress, with its budget rising another $23 million after receiving a $30 million boost last year. NIDA's budget now stands at $1.014 billion prior to the mandated reduction, more than double the $442 million allocated for its sister agency, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

Still, NIAAA's budget does represent a $13-million increase over 2004. The only major drug-related program within the Labor, Education, and HHS budget not to receive more money was the Department of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities' state grants program, which was flat-funded at $441 million for FY05. With the .83-percent reduction, states will received about $3.6 million less next year for school-based drug prevention activities.