Senate Subcommittee Passes Spending Bill With Reduced Abstinence-Only, Level Title Funding

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 26 Jun 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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On Tuesday, a Senate appropriations subcommittee approved by voice vote a $631 billion spending bill for the Labor, HHS and Education departments for fiscal year 2009, CQ Today reports.

According to a chart outlining the measure, it includes a 25% reduction in funding for community-based abstinence-only education programs to $84.8 million for FY 2009. The legislation also would provide $300 million for Title X family planning programs (Lubbes/Wayne, CQ Today, 6/24). The Title X funding level would be the same as for FY 2008 (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/2).

The measure also would increase funding for community health centers by $150 million to $2.2 billion. In addition, the measure would preserve funding for breast and cervical cancer screenings for low-income women, according to CongressDaily (Kivlan, CongressDaily, 6/24).

According to CQ Today, President Bush likely will veto the legislation because it exceeds his proposed budget by $7.2 billion. Many lobbyists and congressional aides have said they expect the measure to be stalled. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), senior Republican on the subcommittee, said he hopes the Senate will "move beyond the [presidential] election and pass the bill."

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chair of the appropriations subcommittee, said that he plans to bring the bill to the Senate floor next month. A House appropriations subcommittee approved a separate version of the measure last week, and the full House and Senate appropriations committees are expected to approve their versions of the bill on Thursday (CQ Today, 6/24).

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