May 08, 2019

Congresswoman Lee Secures Win on Healthcare, Education, And Job Training in the Appropriations Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13), a member of the LHHS subcommittee of the Congressional Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on the Full Committee Markup of FY2020 Labor-HHS-Education Bill:

"Today’s markup was a huge win for my district and will allow Congress to finally reinvest into everyday people and reject the President's harmful budget. This bill means more funding for poverty prevention programs, lifesaving research, k-12 public education, Pell Grants, job training, and public health programs.”

“I am also proud of the adoption of my amendment that would prohibit funding for the implementation of the dangerous and discriminatory Trump-Pence refusal of care rule. This outrageous rule would allow nearly any health care entity, provider, or worker to determine patient care based on their personal beliefs – not based on what’s best for the patient. Additionally, we now have language to ensure fair access for minority-owned businesses including in the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, and Labor advertising contracts. It is imperative that we in Congress help to stop federal agencies from overlooking minority-owned businesses when establishing advertising contracts and my language will do just that.”

The bill includes:

  • HEALTH SERVICES -
  • $25 million in CDC funding for gun violence prevention and mortality prevention research for the first time in 20 years.
  • $100 million for the first year of a multi-year effort to support the modernization of public health data surveillance and analytics at CDC, State, and local health departments and the National Center for Health Statistics.
  • $56 million, an increase of $5 million, in public health workforce initiatives.
  • $15 million, an increase of $5 million, for the health impacts of climate change.
  • Mental health resources for children and youth including $84 million for Project AWARE, an increase of $13 million; and $71 million for the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, an increase of $7 million.
  • Prohibition on funding to be used for the implementation of the Trump-Pence refusal of care rule, which would have allowed medical providers, workers and health care entities to refuse to treat individuals based on their personal beliefs.

•         EDUCATION –

  • $11.6 billion for Head Start, an increase of $1.5 billion.
  • An additional $492 million for federal financial programs like Pell grants, work-study, as well as TRIO and GEAR-UP, programs that help low-income students pay for college.
  • $6,345 for the maximum Pell Grant, an increase of $150 over the 2019 enacted level and the President's budget request. The increase will help the maximum award keep pace with inflation.
  • $1.4 billion for Federal Work-Study, an increase of $304 million above the 2019 enacted level and $934 million above the President's budget request.
  • $375 million for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, an increase of $93 million above the 2019 enacted level and the President's budget request.

•    HIV/AIDS RESEARCH AND PREVENTION

  • $3.2 billion for HIV/AIDS research.
  • $500,000,000 for HIV research, prevention, and treatment – nearly double the amount requested by the Administration for the End the HIV Epidemic Initiative – including $140 million for the CDC and $70 million for the Ryan White Program under the Initiative.
  • $260 million for the Minority AIDS Initiative

•    FAMILY PLANNING

  • $400 million, an increase of $114 million, for the Title X Family Planning program for family planning and preventive health services.
  • $110 million for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention program, an increase of $9 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level.

•    JOB TRAINING

  • $100 million for the reintegration of ex-offenders, an increase of $7 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $22 million above the President's budget request.
  • $250 million for Registered Apprenticeships, an increase of $90 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and the President's budget request.
  • $128 million for YouthBuild, an increase of $38 million above the fiscal year 2019 enacted level and $43 million above the President's budget request.
  • $18 million for the Women's Bureau, an increase of $4 million above the 2019 enacted level and $14 million above the President's budget request. Within this amount, $5 million the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) program, $4 million above the 2019 enacted level. The President's budget proposes to eliminate WANTO.

"After years of Republican cuts," Rep. Lee said, "We are finally turning the page on the fruitless shutdowns and showdowns of recent years and making critical investments in poverty reduction programs, public health prevention, lifesaving medical research, education, and labor programs that train the workers of the future. I will continue fighting for everyday Americans by writing and supporting legislation that gives everyone access to a good education, a good job, safety, and affordable health care. This Congress is committed to working for the people, and so am I."

A summary of the fiscal year 2020 LHHS funding bill is here. The full text of the bill is here. The bill report is here.

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