In September 2011, both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act of 2011. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law on September 20, 2011.

The new law is a follow-up to the Combating Autism Act of 2006, which expired at the end fiscal year 2011. The act re-authorizes funding to combat autism for three additional years. Approximately $66 million of the total $693 million authorized by Congress will go toward funding the Developmental Disabilities Surveillance and Research Program. Around $144 million will be allocated to autism detection and education. The remainder will pay for items such as research grants at the National Institutes of Health.

Note, however, that Congress merely authorized these funds; it did not appropriate them. This means that Congress has approved spending limits for these programs but hasn't yet made the funds available. The Combating Autism Reauthorization Act is a big step toward fulfilling President Obama's promise, but until Congress actually puts its money where its mouth is, we will continue to rate it In the Works.