Harkin Succeeds in Funding Domestic Priorities in Supplemental Appropriations Package
Press Release
Harkin Succeeds in Funding Domestic Priorities in Supplemental Appropriations Package
War-funding package to address needs in American communities, including extending unemployment benefits, funding medical research at NIH, and restoring funding to the Byrne Grant program
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds labor and health initiatives, today announced that the Fiscal Year 2008 supplemental package, which will be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee tomorrow, will include more than $8 billion for investments in American priorities, including health care initiatives, safety nets for families and grants to fight crime in neighborhoods throughout the country. The package will fund the Bush Administration's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Harkin and his colleagues in the Senate fought hard to ensure it also restored investments in American communities.
One of the major victories in the package for communities of all sizes is restoring $490 million to the Byrne Grant program. Harkin led the fight in the Senate to restore funding to the program that helps communities band together to prevent crime. Byrne Grants fund drug task forces that have been vital in reducing methamphetamine labs around the country, and helps pay for police, technology and crime prevention programs. The supplemental appropriations package will increase Byrne grant funding to $660 million - the same level the Senate originally approved in the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill.
"We are now spending $16 million an hour in Iraq while our economy struggles and American families feel the pain," said Harkin. "I believe we have a responsibility to also take care of the needs in our own backyards. With this funding package we can give our own country an economic boost, bolster our investment in life-saving research and keep drugs and crime off our streets. While the President may insist on pouring American tax dollars into his war in Iraq, I will continue to fight for investments that will strengthen our communities and our economy here at home."
As Chair of the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, Harkin led the fight to include the following priorities in his title of the package:
National Institutes of Health
The $400 million in funding in this package would be sufficient to fund approximately 700 additional research grants in FY 2008.
Emergency Unemployment Compensation
The package would provide resources to extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks for all workers nationwide and provides an additional 13 weeks for workers in high-unemployment states. By extending unemployment benefits now, Congress can provide an immediate boost for the economy, and at the same time, help families weather the storm. Economists agree that extending unemployment benefits is a powerful, cost-effective way to stimulate the economyevery dollar spent on benefits leads to $1.64 in economic growth.
State Unemployment Insurance and Employment Services Operations
This package would provide a supplemental appropriation of $110 million to reimburse states for the costs of administering the unemployment insurance program. Currently, states are being reimbursed roughly 30 cents for every dollar of costs above their fixed costs for running their unemployment programs. As a result, the funding shortfall is likely to result in service delays, delayed first payments, appeals backlogs, higher overpayments which contribute to higher taxes on employers, and decreased tax enforcement.
Medicaid/Medicare Provisions
This provision imposes delays on seven Medicaid rules issued by the Bush Administration that would force cuts in school-based, rehabilitation, and case management services. The package would prohibit new physician-owned hospitals from participating in Medicare and place additional requirements for existing specialty hospitals.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
The package would provide $350 million for hospitals that continue to struggle in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Over 6,000 physicians left the gulf coast after Katrina and have not returned. On an average day in the New Orleans area, 70% of residents brought to a hospital by ambulance have to remain in the ambulance for approximately two hours before room can be found in the emergency room. This funding will help hospitals hire and retain staff at hospitals that are struggling to provide care for a population that is at higher risk because of their living conditions and the exposure to disaster-related toxins.
CDC/Disease Control, Research and Training: Infectious
The package would provide $26 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to educate patients and health care providers on safe injection practices in outpatient clinics and to assist local public health in responding to problems.
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