NOT-OD-26-060
FY 2026 Federal Legislative Mandates Affecting HHS and NIH-Funded Activities
The FY 2026 federal appropriations legislation includes several legislative mandates that apply to the Department of Health and Human Services, particularly NIH-funded activities. Most of these provisions reflect longstanding federal requirements that continue to apply in FY 2026.
UCSF investigators, administrators, and staff involved in sponsored research and related communications should remain aware of these obligations, including requirements related to salary limitations, indirect costs, anti-lobbying, acknowledgment of federal funding, restrictions on certain research activities, and institutional responsibilities related to harassment investigations.
Key provisions include:
- Salary limitation for NIH-funded awards
- Restrictions on advocacy and lobbying using federal funds
- Required acknowledgment of federal support in public-facing materials
- Restrictions on abortion-related expenditures with defined exceptions
- Prohibitions on human embryo research using federal funds
- Limits on promotion of the legalization of controlled substances
- Restrictions related to political affiliation disclosures and false or misleading information
- Requirements related to harassment investigations and award transfers
- Restrictions on pornography access on federally funded computer networks
- Restrictions on the use of funds to purchase sterile needles or syringes, with certain public health exceptions
These provisions are part of the federal funding framework that governs NIH and HHS-supported work.