With Critical Frankel Priorities Included, Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill Heads to House Floor for Final Passage

Washington, DC – Today, Representative Lois Frankel (FL-21), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement after helping pass the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) funding bill for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) out of the Appropriations Committee. The bill makes critical investments in the health and wellbeing of every American and includes key Frankel provisions focused on improving the lives of seniors, veterans, and women’s health.

“This bill contains many programs and policies that do so much to advance education, health, and child care, and contains funding for issues I proudly champion,” said Rep. Frankel.

Rep. Frankel led the funding effort aimed at keeping seniors safe: “36 million people over age 65 fall each year, leading to thousands of deaths, millions of injuries, and billions in health care costs,” said Rep. Frankel.  “The bill makes significant investments to support and scale up fall prevention programs that will save lives and avoid heartbreak.”

Rep. Frankel also championed funding for Student Veteran Centers at universities and colleges around the country: “Our military veterans face different challenges than students coming out of high school,” said Rep. Frankel. “At Student Veteran Centers, veterans receive guidance with the transition from the military to civilian student life with programs like mentoring, financial counseling, and tutoring.”

During debate in the bill, Rep. Frankel also fought vigorously for reproductive freedom: “All persons should be in charge of decisions that affect their own reproductive care, life, and future,” said. Rep. Frankel. “Most importantly, this bill stands up for the women of this country by protecting abortion care, increasing funding for family planning, and improving access to birth control.”

The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill is the largest non-defense funding bill. This year, it provides $242.1 billion in overall funding, an increase of $28.5 billion above last year’s level. As a member of this Appropriations subcommittee, Rep. Frankel advocated for an array of programs, including:

Senior Health:

• $4 million for Elderly Fall Prevention at the CDC (a $2 million increase),
• $1 million for the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Healthy Aging and Age Friendly Communities and language to encourage coordination between agencies on falls prevention,
• $10 million for Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation Center for the Aging Network to research and develop new fall prevention strategies and evaluate existing programs,
• $10 million for Evidence-Based Falls Prevention Programs at the Administration for Community Living (a $5 million increase),
• $27.5 million for Older American Act Preventative Health funding to reduce disease and injury among older adults (a $2.7 million increase),
• $36.96 million for Aging Network Support Activities to provide technical training and assistance for local agencies on aging to implement fall prevention strategies (a $18.5 million increase),
• $3.7 billion for Alzheimer’s disease research (a $200 million increase),
• $400 million for Home-Delivered Nutrition Services (Meals on Wheels) for senior citizens (a $291 million increase),
• $450 million for Home- and Community-Based Services for older Americans and individuals with disabilities (a $51 million increase),
• Language encouraging the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to pay special attention to the unique mental health needs of older adults, many of whom are still suffering the isolating effects of the pandemic,
• $10 million for Holocaust Survivors, to aid survivors with health care, aging assistance, and emergency costs (a $4 million increase).

Women’s Health

• Elimination of the Hyde Amendment to allow for Medicaid funding of abortion,
• $500 million for the Title X Family Planning Program, which provides life-saving quality health care to low-income patients (a $214 million increase),
• $10 million for the Violence Against Women health initiatives (a $3 million increase),
• $27.4 million for the Domestic Violence Hotline (a $12 million increase),
• $9.5 million for Domestic Violence Prevention (a $4 million increase),
• Language directing the creation of a designated research category for menopause, and for a study to identify disparities and gaps in women’s health research,
• $71.75 million for Rape Prevention and Education Grants (a $15 million increase),
• $64 million for the Office of Research on Women’s Health (a $5 million increase).

Education:

• $15 million for Student Veteran Service Centers, which offer resources and give a boost to student veterans transitioning from military to civilian life (an $8.5 million increase),
• Last year, Rep. Frankel introduced bipartisan legislation to create these centers across the nation.
• $20.5 billion for Title I grants to ensure access to high-quality education regardless of zip code (a $3 billion increase),
• $50.9 billion for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act grants to states (a $8.3 billion increase),
• $1.4 billion for Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers, to provide afterschool programs for students in underserved communities (a $120 million increase),
• $38.5 million for Arts in Education, funding for school art programs (a $2 million increase),

• Fully defunds ineffective and harmful abstinence-only education.

Children and Families:

• $7.2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant to help low-income families afford quality childcare (a $1 billion increase),
• $12.4 billion for Head Start to provide comprehensive early childhood education for low-income families (a $1.4 billion increase),

• $70.5 million for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (a $10 million increase),

Health Care:

• $10.5 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including:
• $35 million for firearm injury and mortality prevention research (a $23 million increase),
• $47.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand life-saving research. This includes:
• $216 million for the Cancer Moonshot initiative,
• $9.2 billion for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA),
• $3.8 billion for mental health (a $1.7 billion increase),
• $4.8 billion for substance use services (a $871 million increase),
• Language encouraging the creation of a World Trade Center Health Program Clinical Center of Excellence outside the New York area to serve first responders who have retired and relocated, including the thousands now residing in Florida.

Labor:

• $35 million for the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor (a $17 million increase),
• $3.2 billion for operation of the Unemployment Insurance program (a $334 million increase).

For a full summary of the bill, click here.

Now that the legislation has passed out of Committee, it will be brought to the House floor for a vote in the coming weeks. If the Senate passes its own bill, appropriators will reconcile the differences to then send the result to the President’s desk for a signature.

###