House Republicans on Wednesday released a spending bill for the next fiscal year that proposes $390 million in new funding to fight the Zika virus, and another $300 million that could be used to fight any emerging threat such as Zika or Ebola.
The bill would allow that spending only in the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.
Until then, Republicans in the House have proposed a bill allowing $1.1 billion in new spending using existing funds, without any new money. Democrats have opposed that proposal, and say new money is needed to fight what they say is a public health crisis.
Between that current proposal, which is stalled in the Senate, Republicans seem comfortably spending about $1.5 billion on Zika, including both new and existing funds, plus another $300 million in new funds in the next fiscal year if needed.
That would be on top of the nearly $600 million the Obama administration has already agreed to spend on Zika using existing funds.
However, Democrats continue to rebel against the GOP plan, and it’s not clear at this point whether the $1.1 billion plan would go forward. Democrats may also try to boost the spending levels in the FY 2017 bill this year.
Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee said the 2017 Zika funding would include money for “vector control activities; international and territorial Zika response efforts; and block grants for states.”
“The bill includes additional funding dedicated to the Zika response effort, which gives the CDC director the ability to respond more quickly to the fight against Zika,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.
The Zika money is part of a spending bill that authorizes $161.6 billion in discretionary funding for labor, health and human services programs in the federal government. That’s $569 million less than the total current spending level, and $2.8 billion below President Obama’s request for those programs.
