To provide for a limitation on availability of funds for Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health Office of the Director for fiscal year 2024.
Impact
The limitation on funding proposed in HB1999 could have considerable implications for health-related research and programs administered by the NIH. Reduced financial support may hinder progress in various health initiatives, potentially affecting areas such as medical research, grant funding for health studies, and overall public health initiatives. Stakeholders in the health sector may express concerns that such budget constraints can impede their ability to address pressing health challenges, especially those emerging from recent public health crises.
Summary
House Bill 1999 aims to impose a limitation on the availability of funds for the Department of Health and Human Services, specifically for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of the Director for the fiscal year 2024. The proposed funding cap is set at $1,909,075,000. This bill reflects ongoing debates surrounding federal budgeting and the prioritization of health funding within federal programs, particularly in light of shifting political dynamics in Congress.
Contention
There may be points of contention associated with this proposed funding cap, as supporters of increased funding often argue that substantial investments are necessary to advance healthcare research and public health initiatives. Conversely, proponents of the funding limitation may frame their position as necessary to promote fiscal responsibility and minimize government spending. The ongoing discourse surrounding this bill highlights a balance between ensuring adequate funding for health research and managing federal budgetary constraints.
No Pro-Abortion Task Force Act This bill prohibits federal funding of the Reproductive Healthcare Access Task Force. The Department of Health and Human Services launched the task force on January 21, 2022, to identify and coordinate departmental activities related to accessing sexual and reproductive health care.
World Deserves To Know Act This bill requires sanctions on certain members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and officials of Chinese health agencies. It also addresses related issues. The President must impose visa- and property-blocking sanctions on any foreign person who is a CCP official and who is knowingly responsible for or complicit in (1) the disappearances of whistleblowers and citizen journalists in China relating to COVID-19, or (2) limiting free speech and academic freedom in China relating to COVID-19. The President must also impose such sanctions on specified individuals who have leadership positions in China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention and China's National Health Commission (NHC). The authority to impose such sanctions shall end when the President certifies to Congress that an independent and unimpeded investigation into the potential origin of COVID-19 from the Wuhan Institute of Virology has taken place. The bill also bars federal funds and certain federal student assistance from going to institutions of higher education that enter into a contract with any element or China-based affiliate of the NHC. Federal funding to the National Academy of Sciences may not be used to enter into a contract with any element or China-based affiliate of the NHC. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress a review of all funds that the National Institutes of Health have made available to the NHC since FY2010. This report must also be publicly available.
Appropriations: department of health and human services; appropriations for fiscal year 2026-2027 for human services; provide for. Creates appropriation act.
States' Education Reclamation Act of 2023 This bill abolishes the Department of Education (ED) and repeals any program for which it has administrative responsibility. The Department of the Treasury shall provide grants to states, for FY2023-FY2031, for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education purposes permitted by state law. The level of funding is set at the amount provided to states for federal elementary and secondary education programs and the amount provided for federal postsecondary education programs, respectively, for FY2023, minus the funding provided for education programs that the bill transfers to other federal agencies. States must contract for an annual audit of their expenditures or transfers of grant funds. Program administrative responsibility and delegation of authority are transferred as follows: ED's job training programs to the Department of Labor, each special education grant program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), ED's Indian education programs to the Department of the Interior, each Impact Aid program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to the Department of Defense, the Federal Pell Grant program and each federal student loan program to Treasury, and programs under the jurisdiction of the Institute of Education Sciences or the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program to HHS.