[Feb. 24, 2009]
Congressional Democrats' fiscal year 2009 spending plan (H.R. 1105) would provide about $152 billion to health, labor and education programs, an almost $6 billion increase over 2008 levels, CQ Today reports. The bill "represents a clear break with the domestic priorities" of former President George W. Bush's administration, CQ Today reports. Although the Democrats "plan to boost funding significantly for some programs" that Bush aimed to cut or eliminate, the bill would cut or eliminate other initiatives, such as abstinence-only sex education, that the Bush administration supported, according to CQ Today.
Under the bill, grants to family planning programs would see a 2.5% increase to $307 million, despite complaints among some Republicans about funding for contraception. The long-standing ban on federal funding for abortion services, known as the Hyde Amendment, was not removed from the bill, according to CQ Today. The bill also would reduce funding for community-based, abstinence-only programs to $95 million, a 13% ($14 million) decrease from FY 2008. In addition, the bill would reduce funding for grants to faith-based organizations that provide community services by 9% to $48 million.
In addition, Democrats aim to increase funding to HHS to train health care workers, such as nurses and primary care physicians, by 12% to $393 million. The bill also includes a $932 million increase for the National Institutes of Health, which would put the agency's annual spending above $30 billion for the first time. The recently signed economic stimulus law will provide an additional $10 billion to NIH over the next two years, CQ Today reports. Overall, the bill provides HHS and the Labor and Education departments with a total of $625.6 billion including entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security (Wayne, CQ Today, 2/23).
The information contained in this publication reflects media coverage of women’s health issues and does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
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The Editors
Debra Ness, publisher & president, National Partnership
Laura Hessburg, associate editor & senior health policy advisor, National Partnership
Christine Monahan, assistant editor & health program assistant, National Partnership
Freya Riedlin, assistant editor & communications team, National Partnership
Francesca Tarant, assistant editor & communications team, National Partnership
Justyn Ware, editor
Amanda Wolfe, editor-in-chief
Brittany Hackett, senior writer
Cassandra Blohowiak, Audrey Horn, Julia Moss, Santosh Rao, Zach Swiss, Matt Wayt, staff writers
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