On June 17, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies approved, by voice vote, the FY2016 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill (as-yet-unnumbered).
According to the committee summary, the bill would provide $153 billion in discretionary funding, which is $3.7 billion below FY2015 and $14.6 billion below President Obama’s request.
The legislation includes a total of $71.3 billion for the Department of Human Health Services (HHS). This amount represents an increase of $298 million above the FY2015 level, but a decrease of $3.9 billion below the president’s request.
Within the amount for HHS is $6 billion for the Health Resources and Services Administration, which includes $1.5 billion for community health centers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would receive $7 billion, while the National Institutes of Health would receive $31.2 billion. The measure also would allocate $17.8 billion for the Administration for Children and Families, $145 million of which would go toward the Family Violence Prevention and Battered Women’s Shelters program.
The Department of Education would receive $64.4 billion, which is $2.8 billion below FY2015 and $6.4 billion below the president’s request. Funding for special education, which includes special education grants for infants and families, would be set at $12.5 million.
The Department of Labor would be funded at $11.7 billion, which is $206 million below FY2015 and $1.4 billion below the president’s request.
The bill also contains “continuations of all longstanding restrictions on abortion funding that have been included in the legislation in prior years,” as well as provisions of the Health Care Conscience Rights Act (H.R. 940), sponsored by Rep. Diane Black (R-TN).
More information will be provided once the committee releases its report.
