FY20 Appropriations:

On Thursday, December 13, lawmakers reached an “agreement in principle” for FY2020 appropriations, the legislation which will fund DSTDP through October 2020. An agreement in principle means that while not all the details of the final appropriations bills have been hammered out, an agreement has been reached on the issues that may have held up the process, including top line funding numbers and border wall funding. It is being reported that border wall funding, which was a major sticking point in negotiations, will remain flat at current levels.

Senate and House officials are expected to vote on the final appropriations bill for FY2020 on Tuesday, December 17. NCSD will send all the details as soon as we have them.

HR3:

On Wednesday, December 12, the House passed HR 3, legislation to address prescription drug costs. The new bill would mandate that the government negotiate the price of Medicare Part D drugs annually to address skyrocketing drug prices, among other provisions.

NCSD joined with NASTAD to publicly support this legislation, sending a letter to Members of the House of Representatives that emphasized that efforts to reduce the high cost of drugs in this country are imperative to our ability to address HIV, hepatitis, and STDs.  This letter can be found here.