{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s2843-114/featured_a-bill-to-provide-emergency-supplemental-appropriations-to-address-the-zika-crisis-1462402404.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/s2843-114/featured_large_a-bill-to-provide-emergency-supplemental-appropriations-to-address-the-zika-crisis-1462402404.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/s2843-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2016-04-21","title_override":"Authorizing Nearly $2 Billion to Manage the Zika Crisis","summary_override":"

This bill would authorize $1.9 billion in emergency spending to deal with the spread of the Zika virus by fully funding the Obama administration’s request to deal with the crisis. Much of it would be made available to the various subsidiaries of the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) to spend on Zika-related efforts within their specialty area. Additional funding for counter-Zika would also be provided to the State Dept. and its international programs.

Dept. of Health and Human Services

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would receive $743 million to be used in Zika prevention and preparation efforts, in addition to responding to the virus in the U.S. and internationally. Spending would be authorized for the following purposes:

Grants improving Zika preparedness and response capabilities at the state and local level;
Purchasing products like vaccines that are then deposited in the Strategic National Stockpile;
Purchasing or leasing property or equipment, and related construction, demolition, or renovation activities;
Purchasing and insuring official cars in foreign countries;
This funding could be transferred to specific CDC accounts at the HHS Secretary’s discretion.

$233 million in funding from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund would be made available to be spent on developing vaccines and purchasing medical supplies to counteract Zika and related diseases.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) would be authorized to spend $277 million on general Zika prevention and treatment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would receive $10 million to spend on developing vaccines or other medical countermeasures, reviewing and regulating them, and monitoring their post-use effectiveness.

State Department

$325 million would be available to be spent on global health programs that may include multi-year funding commitments aimed at incentivizing the development of global health technologies.

Additional funding that this legislation would provide to the State Department is broken down as follows:

$13.5 million for coordinated Zika response and research efforts with foreign governments, which would only be available until September 30, 2017;
$10 million would be provided to the U.S. Agency for International Development to spend responding to the Zika virus;
$8 million from international security assistance programs to support response efforts;
$4 million for dealing with emergencies that happen within the State Department’s diplomatic and consular services;
$1 million for direct loans supporting Zika response efforts.

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The bill amends the Public Health Service Act to permit Project BioShield to be used to support the advanced development and procurement of medical countermeasures to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or treat harm from any infectious disease that may pose a threat to the public health. (Under current law, Project BioShield supports only countermeasures against specific chemical, biological, radiologi...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"People involved in the preventing, preparing for, and responding to the Zika virus; the State Department; and HHS. ","argument_for":"The Zika virus poses an imminent threat to the health of many Americans. 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The insights gained could also be applicable to mosquito-borne illnesses in general, which are among the most wide-reaching in the world.","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":1,"upvotes_for_count":1,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":1,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/f8a2e4de-ebc1-4f37-99d3-0a37147ef1f4"},"body":"$2 billion is far less than the potential long-term healthcare costs that could plague the next generation if no action is taken. The insights gained could also be applicable to mosquito-borne illnesses in general, which are among the most wide-reaching in the world.","stance":"yea","created_at":"2016-05-05T17:12:35.812Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/f8a2e4de-ebc1-4f37-99d3-0a37147ef1f4.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"s2843-114","user_id":"kW3J0g29","endorser_ids":["kW3J0g29"]}}

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Authorizing Nearly $2 Billion to Manage the Zika Crisis