FY16 LHHS Subcommittee Markup Bill Summary

Press Release

The fiscal year 2016 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies bill provides a total of $154.7 billion. This figure includes $153.2 billion in discretionary funding as well as $1.6 billion in cap adjustment funding, a $77 million increase to prevent waste, fraud, abuse and improper payments in the Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security programs.

The bill's discretionary funding level is $3.6 billion below the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and $14.5 billion below the President's requested level. The bill also includes numerous policy riders that would impede efforts to protect consumers, taxpayers and workers' collective bargaining rights.

The Subcommittee's allocation conforms to the post-sequester caps under the Budget Control Act. Not one Senate Democrat voted for these austere spending levels because they do not provide adequate resources to protect America, build infrastructure, create opportunity, and spur economic growth. We need a new budget deal, in the spirit of Murray-Ryan, that stops hollowing out investments in America's future.

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

"I am deeply disappointed with this bill, which would hurt families and communities and would double down on the automatic budget cuts that Republicans and Democrats agree are bad policy and need to be fixed.

"While I appreciate Chairman Blunt's interest in increasing research investments, this bill would make deep cuts to middle class priorities like health care, education, job training, worker protection programs, women's health, and more. It also includes harmful policy riders that would shortchange workers' retirement savings, roll back collective bargaining rights, and make it harder for students to get valuable information about their higher education options.

"Instead of spending more time on partisan sequester level spending bills that have no chance of becoming law and only push us closer to another budget crisis, we should be working together to reach another bipartisan budget deal to roll back the automatic budget cuts to domestic and defense investments and allow this Committee to truly work together to pass our bills. Democrats and Republicans came together on a bipartisan budget deal in 2013, and I am hopeful we can do that again."

U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Vice Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement:

"The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education bill is about our future and how we as a nation invest in our people. It provides funding to educate our next generation, make sure higher education is affordable for middle class families, make sure America's seniors get the benefits they've earned and deserve, protect our public health, and find cures and treatments for deadly diseases.

"I want to thank Chairman Blunt and Ranking Member Murray for their hard work and for including a number of my requests, especially the $2 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health and the $150 million increase for helping families of modest means afford child care services. But overall, because of sequester funding levels, the bill is $3.6 billion less than last year's bill, $14.5 billion less than the President's request, and inadequate for meeting basic human needs. It also includes the mother of all poison pill riders: defunding critical elements of the Affordable Care Act that has brought health care to 16.4 million people who were previously uninsured."

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