SUMMARY: FY2019 Labor, HHS, & Education Appropriations Bill Gains Subcommittee Approval

Statement

The fiscal year 2019 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations bill provides a total of $181.2 billion in discretionary budget authority - $2.2 billion more than the fiscal year 2018 level and $11.9 billion more than the budget request. The total funding includes $179.3 billion in discretionary funding as well as $1.897 billion in cap adjustment funding to prevent waste, fraud, abuse and improper payments in the Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security programs. The bill provides additional resources for biomedical research at NIH, child care, college affordability, Social Security, and addressing the opioids epidemic.

U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies, said:

"This bipartisan compromise is the result of hard work, negotiation, some tough choices, and a commitment to working together to write the best bill possible. It's not what either side would have written on our own, but like we did just a few months ago, I am very proud that so many of us worked together to push aside President Trump's partisan poison pills, as well as his request for massive cuts that would be devastating for families and communities. And I am so proud that, once again, this bill includes real investments in students, children, workers, families…serious new commitments to health care, research and innovation, lifesaving cures, access to higher education, and economic growth…and continued commitments to the major new steps we took just a few months ago to invest in child care early learning and care, tackling the opioid epidemic, and more. And I'm pleased the bill increases the resources for communities to tackle some of the toughest challenges we face, impacting those who too often get left behind, including increased education funding for homeless youth and disadvantaged schools; more money for mental health services; more resources to enforce civil rights laws, and more."

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