Summary 

On March 21, Congress reached an agreement on the final six fiscal year 2024 (FY’24) appropriations bills. The package includes the Labor-HHS-Education, Defense, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Legislative Branch and State-Foreign Operations bills. The legislation is expected to pass the House and Senate and be signed into law by the President.  

NCSD is pleased to report that—although it was a tough negotiation year—the agreement includes $174,310,000 for STD prevention at CDC, the same funding level as provided in FY’23. Language is also included that ensures that no PCHD grantee receives less funds than it did last year; and directs the CDC to continue to move the grant year forward by one month to provide for a more efficient expenditure of funds and improve grantee activities, with the intention that the grant year will be moved forward by at least one month each year for the next three years. It is NCSD’s goal ultimately to move the grant year to July to limit disruptions to the program caused by late appropriations.  

Language  

Along with the funding levels outlined in the chart below, the final funding package provides instructions to the administration that will support STI prevention, including: 

• • • Directs CDC to extend the PCHD grant year by one additional month to reduce administrative burdens; 
    • Directs that a portion of the DSTDP funds be used to ensure that no PCHD grantee receive less than the amount it received in FY’23;  
    • Encourages CDC to work with other agencies to develop innovative approaches to increase screening, treatment, and education to curb the spread of STIs in vulnerable populations;  
    • Acknowledges that having an STI poses an increased risk of HIV acquisition and includes dedicated funding in the EHE initiative for STI clinics, sexual health clinics, and the STD Clinical Prevention Training Centers;  
    • Urges CDC to collect and integrate data on school health policies and practices that support student and staff physical and emotional well-being and positive mental health and wellness;  
    • Encourages CDC to continue to advance opportunities to enhance access to self-testing, self-collection, and rapid testing and highlights the importance of these innovative technologies in addressing inequities, including through the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, the Viral Hepatitis National Plan, and the National STI Strategic Plan.  
    • Expresses concern regarding the rising syphilis rates, and correlation with the syphilis increase in women of childbearing age, which often leads to congenital syphilis and encourages the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to continue to work to develop new diagnostic syphilis tests for both adults and newborns and acceleration of vaccine development and new treatment options;   
    • Encourages NIAID to accelerate work to find new diagnostic tools and treatments for new strains of antimicrobial resistant gonorrhea bacterium; and 
    • Encourages the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to coordinate efforts with NIAID on new testing, diagnosis, and treatment efforts for congenital syphilis.  

Final Funding Levels 

The chart below includes enacted funding from FY’21-FY’24, as well as the President’s Budget Request for FY’25, which was released last week.  

Text of the funding package is available here. The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies summary and statement can be found here: Bill Summary and Explanatory Statement. Additionally, the final agreement states that language in the Senate FY’24 LHHS report carries the same weigh as the explanatory statement, and that report can be found here. 

For FY’25, we are facing strong headwinds in the form of spending caps, federal elections, and the continued politicization of public health and sexual health. To offset these challenges, NCSD has already begun working with our coalition partners, and meeting with Members of Congress and their staff to advocate for increased STI prevention and clinical services funding. We will keep you apprised of our progress as the year unfolds.  

If you have questions, please reach out to Stephanie Arnold Pang (Senior Director, Policy and Government Relations) at sarnold@ncsddc.org or Rachel Deitch (Director, Federal Policy) at rdeitch@ncsddc.org.