Congress must pass bipartisan FY 2026 bill without delay

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Congress must pass bipartisan FY 2026 bill without delay

The bipartisan agreement on the FY 2026 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill rightly maintains funding for most public health agencies and programs, rejecting proposals to drastically eliminate and cut funding for agencies and programs that are essential to protecting and improving the nation’s health. Even so, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and other federal health agencies remain woefully underfunded. While the bill is not perfect and we disagree with cuts to several HHS agency programs included, overall, the agreement rejects the devastating cuts and nonsensical agency reorganizations proposed by the Trump administration and is a positive outcome. Importantly, the bill also includes language to ensure that CDC and other health agencies maintain an adequate level of staffing to carry out their statutory responsibilities. The bill will also ensure that Congress exercises its oversight over any future proposed agency reorganizations.

The bill would fund CDC at nearly $9.15 billion, fully funding programs under CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and providing level funding for CDC’s Injury Center, including $25 million for gun violence prevention research, $12.5 million for both CDC and the National Institutes of Health. We welcome the modest increases included in the bill for continued data modernization activities and public health infrastructure and capacity. The bill also provides level funding for CDC’s tobacco prevention and control program, domestic and global HIV/AIDS activities, and other CDC programs that were marked for elimination under the administration’s FY 2026 budget proposal.

The bill also provides a modest increase in funding to HRSA, funding the agency at $8.9 billion, including fully funding HRSA’s Title X Family Planning program, level funding for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, and level funding for critical public health workforce development and training programs.

The bill increases NIH research funding, provides near-level funding for mental health and substance abuse programs under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and restores most of the proposed cuts to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

We appreciate the bipartisan work of all the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and Labor-HHS-Education subcommittees in reaching this agreement on this important bill, and we urge the House and Senate to pass the bill without delay.

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The American Public Health Association champions optimal, equitable health and well-being for all. With our broad-based member community and 150-year perspective, we influence federal policy to improve the public’s health. Learn more at www.apha.org.