As the battle over funding to fight the Zika virus takes a summer break, a bipartisan group of senators wants to create a permanent fund for public health emergencies.
Five senators introduced a bill Friday called the Public Health Emergency Response and Accountability Act that would create a permanent fund for responding to public health emergencies such as Zika and the Ebola virus. The legislation comes as Congress adjourned Thursday without agreeing on emergency funding to fight the Zika virus.
Senators said outbreaks such as Zika are inevitable.
“The pattern is well known, an outbreak of disease occurs, public panic grows, Congress scrambles and appropriates money,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. “This legislation would create a way to provide immediate resources without sacrificing congressional oversight.”
Cassidy sponsored the legislation alongside Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Marco Rubio, R-Fla. and Richard Durbin, D-Ill.
Cassidy likened the fund to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has a budget that is automatically triggered and not “held up by partisanship.”
The bill was introduced a day after Congress left town without approving a $1.1 billion package for fighting the Zika virus.
The package passed the House but was held up in the Senate by Democrats upset at several riders added to the package. Chief among them was a rider stripping funding for Planned Parenthood in Puerto Rico, which has nearly 3,000 Zika cases.
