This week, the House of Representatives’ Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee marked up their fiscal year (FY) 2017 LHHS Appropriations bill.  The full draft bill can be found here.  This bill flat-funds the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as compared to funding for FY2016.  This is the Center that houses the Division of STD Prevention (DSTDP), the Division of HIV Prevention, and the Division of Adolescent and School Health.

Additional information from the Committee will need to be released to confirm that all the Divisions at NCHHSTP are also flat-funded, but NCSD is currently cautiously optimistic that all the NCHHSTP divisions are flat-funded.  While NCSD continues to push Congress to increase funding for the Division of STD Prevention, flat-funding is, of course, a better position to be in then receiving a cut.  As you will remember from past NCSD Federal Policy Updates, the Senate’s LHHS FY17 Appropriations bill includes a $5 million cut to DSTDP.   The fact that the House of Representatives’ draft FY17 LHHS bill does not contain a cut to DSTDP puts the funding at a strong position as the appropriations process moves forward.

The House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee passed the bill on Thursday.  There are rumors that the full committee markup will be next Wednesday, July 13th, but those rumors have not yet been confirmed.  NCSD will, as always, keep you updated on this process.