The Senate will vote next week on whether to provide up to $1.9 billion in emergency federal spending to combat the spread of the Zika virus, lawmakers said Thursday.
The move comes nearly three months after the Obama administration made a request for the $1.9 billion, which they say is needed to develop a vaccine and treatments and to control mosquitoes. Zika causes serious birth defects and may cause a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
But even if the Senate passes legislation next week, the House may not be prepared to act.
GOP aides told the Washington Examiner that Republican lawmakers are working on their own Zika funding plan that is not ready yet.
Senate lawmakers are moving ahead, however. If they pass a funding measure, it would likely step up pressure on the House to move quickly.
Next week, the Senate will vote on three measures offered as amendments to an appropriations bill that funds military construction and veterans affairs.
The main amendment, authored by Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., would provide $1.1 billion, which is considered a bipartisan compromise below the administration’s request.
Lawmakers also will vote on a bipartisan measure offered by Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson, both of Florida, which would increase the among to the requested $1.9 billion.
“The administration has been clear from the start: it’s going to take $1.9 billion to stop the spread of this virus, not $1.1 billion,” Nelson said in a statement. Florida and other hot and humid southern states are expected to hit the hardest by Zika this summer.
A third measure would fund the Zika fight at $1.1 billion and would offset the spending rather than allow it to add to the deficit.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., complained Thursday that the Blunt-Murray offer falls short of Obama’s request.
“Congress should have fulfilled the president’s emergency request for Zika aid months ago,” Reid said. “For Republicans to allocate just half of his request is far too little and the funds will be available far too late to adequately address the threat posed by Zika.”
With Congress in limbo on new Zika funding, the administration redirected $590 million leftover from the fight last year against the Ebola virus.
