Budget and Appropriations

As you may remember, we have a budget deal which was agreed to last week when a continuing resolution (CR) was passed to fund the government until March 23 and included new top-line funding numbers for both defense and non-defense spending for FY18 and FY19. The legislative language can be read here as well as a Senate summary here.

As a reminder, it is now—when decisions on how this money will be spent are being made—that your voice must be heard about STD funding.  On your personal time, please visit NCSD’s Take Action Center to send a letter to Congress on the need for STD funding!

President’s FY19 Budget

On Monday, President Trump released his FY2019 Budget Proposal, the administration’s very brief summary of which can be found here.  You may be interested in reading the broader Department of Health and Human Services budget which addresses the CDC starting on page 31. On page 33, the budget specifically calls out the CDC’s 2016 data showing that there were more cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis (including congenital syphilis) than ever before reported and calls for level funding of STD prevention.  This is a stark contrast from last year’s budget which called for a huge cut in STD funding.  Additionally, the budget includes $40 million to support a new demonstration project focusing on select states/jurisdictions with high rates of infectious disease transmission due to opioids to support efforts to eliminate HIV transmission, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis.  More information about that initiative can be found here.

Unfortunately, it appears that this new initiative is being funded out of cuts to the HIV prevention budget line at the Division of HIV Prevention (DHAP) which also includes the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH).  In the President’s Budget, the Division of Viral Hepatitis (DVH) was level funded as well as Title X—family planning.

The President’s Budget proposal is just that—a proposal and indicates to Congress (who does the actual appropriation of funding) the priorities of the Administration.  It is a positive that the Administration seems to be showing an understanding of what NCSD and our members have been shouting from the rooftops—STD rates are increasing and we must do something about it, including increasing funding!!