an amendment by Rep. Curt Weldon (R-FL) to Rep. Murtha’s en bloc amendments that would limit SCHIP eligibility to children aged 18 or younger with family incomes 200 percent of the federal poverty level or less, by voice vote.Report Language
The House Appropriations Committee report accompanying the bill included language detailing a number of programs affecting women and their families. Although report language is not binding, federal agencies give careful consideration to such language as it indicates programs or initiatives that are particularly important for appropriators.
Department of Defense
The bill would provide $2.79 billion for defense health programs in FY2007. Included in that amount is $12 million for caregiver support programs.
Family advocacy programs that “treat child and spouse abuse” would receive an additional $17 million in FY2007. Of that amount, $7 million would be used to “fund initiatives to ensure that [National] Guard and [National] Reserve families receive the same level of pre-deployment and post-deployment support as active duty families.” The committee would “also provide $10 million to support the child care needs of Guard and Reserve members in their local communities.”
Department of Education
The bill would provide $30 million for emergency assistance to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama “to assist local education agencies in rebuilding the capacity of public schools that were forced to suspend operations for 30 days or more due to Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Rita. These funds will be used for recruitment and retention incentives for new and current teachers, school leaders, and other school personnel, and for other activities to build the capacity of schools…In addition, the committee expects that public schools receiving emergency assistance shall be (1) open to all students, including students with disabilities and English language learners, and (2) in compliance with all applicable civil rights laws, and state and local health and safety laws.”
Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families: The bill would provide $400 million for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance state grants. Included in that amount is $200 million for “contingent emergency reserve and $200 million for block grants to the states.”
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: The bill would provide $448 million for the State Children’s Health Insurance program (SCHIP) to eliminate funding shortfalls in FY2007. The bill also would “ensure that individuals applying for Medicaid have the same reasonable time period to procure documentation of citizenship as is allowed under other programs like the food stamp program and clarify that children born in U.S. hospitals meet Medicaid’s citizenship documentation requirement, regardless of the immigration status of the parent.”
The bill includes three provisions to “offset the estimated cost of SCHIP…” These provisions include repealing the limit on the continuous enrollment of some beneficiaries under the Medicare Advantage program, requiring prescriptions to be written on tamper-resistant pads to reduce fraud and abuse, and rescinding unspent FY2005 and FY2006 funds for the provision of emergency medical services to undocumented individuals.
Office of the Secretary: The committee “recommends $969.65 million…to prepare for and respond to an influenza epidemic…Within this total is $65 million…[for] global pandemic influenza preparedness and planning, international advanced development and industrialization of human pandemic influenza vaccine, and advanced development of rapid tests and detection.”
The bill also includes a provision that would allow university health centers that do not receive federal funding to purchase contraceptives under Section 340b of the Public Health Service Act (P.L. 91-572). That section allows certain public health clinics to purchase drugs at a “nominal” rate compared to market prices.
Department of State
The committee recommends $161 million for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) child survival and health program fund “to maintain and expand efforts to detect, prevent, and control the spread of the avian influenza virus and pre-empt the emergence of a virus capable of causing a global influenza pandemic” in FY2007.
USAID would receive $135 million for international disaster and famine assistance in FY2007. Included in that amount is $40 million “to ensure the continued ability to provide humanitarian assistance to $1.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in the more than 60 IDP camps in Sudan, and $75 million to meet unanticipated humanitarian assistance needs, as well as to replenish costs incurred as a result of humanitarian crises in Iraq.”
The bill would provide $111.5 million for migration and refugee assistance in FY2007. Included in that amount is $15 million “to the meet the needs of Iraqi refugees.” An additional $35 million would be provided for emergency refugee and migration assistance “to address the unanticipated emergency humanitarian needs in places such as Somalia, Chad, Sri Lanka, and Iraq. The additional funding is also needed to support contingency planning to address increased Darfur refugee outflows from Chad.”
The bill also would include $4.31 billion for the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief and Recovery fund. The committee states that these additional funds “will help to continue to address the needs of the estimated 372,000 students affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Disaster Relief Fund includes support for public assistance grants to repair and reconstruct school buildings, replace contents in schools including books and desks, and provide portable classrooms.”
