On July 7, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies approved, by voice vote, the FY2017 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered). The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the bill on June 9 (See The Source, 6/9/16).
According to the committee summary, the bill would provide $161.6 billion in discretionary funding, a decrease of $569 million below FY2016 and $2.8 billion below President Obama’s budget request.
The Department of Labor would be funded at $12 billion, $138 million below FY2016 and $765 million below the president’s request.
The Department of Health and Human Services would be funded at $73.2 billion, an increase of $2.6 billion above last year’s enacted level and $3.5 billion above the president’s request. This amount includes $7.8 billion for the Centers for Disease Control, $390 million of which would be allocated to fighting the Zika virus, which has been connected to severe birth defects.
The National Institutes of Health would receive $1.25 billion over its FY2016 allocation of $32.084 billion. This amount also is $2.25 billion over the administration’s request.
The total for HHS also includes $9.3 billion for Head Start programs, an increase of $142 million from FY2016, and $19.4 billion for the Administration for Children and Families.
The legislation would allocate $6.1 billion for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which represents an increase of $218 million over FY2016 and $168 million over the president’s request. The bill would eliminate $300 million in funding for the Title X Family Planning Program and would maintain all existing prohibitions against federal funding for abortion.
The Department of Education would be funded at $67 billion, $1.3 billion below FY2016 and $2.4 billion below the president’s request.
Additional details will be provided when the committee releases its report.
