{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blunt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/blunt-releases-fy2021-labor-health-and-human-services-and-education-funding-bill", "Blunt Releases FY2021 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Funding Bill", "2020-11-10", "2020", "2020-11", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Roy Blunt", "B000575", "www.blunt.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), Chairman\r\nof the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services,\r\nEducation, and Related Agencies (Labor/HHS), today released the fiscal year\r\n2021 Labor/HHS funding bill. This year's bill targets funding toward some of the most\r\nimportant programs affecting the lives of nearly every American  educating our\r\nstudents, improving health care and paving the way for new treatments and\r\ncures, and providing workforce development opportunities, said Blunt. This\r\nbill includes the sixth consecutive increase for the National Institutes of\r\nHealth. As we have seen first-hand this\r\nyear, medical research is key to responding to diseases we have fought for\r\nyears, like cancer and Alzheimer's disease, as well as novel viruses like\r\nCOVID-19. The bill continues our\r\ncommitment to fighting the opioid and stimulant epidemic, which is\r\nunfortunately on the rise during the pandemic.\r\nThe bill provides funding for education and early childhood programs,\r\nfrom helping hardworking families afford high-quality early childcare, to\r\ninvesting in Career and Technical Education, to making college more\r\naffordable. Finally, as our economy\r\ncontinues its recovery, the bill focuses investment in workforce programs, like\r\nthe apprenticeship program, to ensure Americans can compete in a global\r\neconomy. In addition to funding a range of health, education, and\r\nworkforce programs, the bill includes resources to prevent waste, fraud, abuse,\r\nand improper payments in the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs. Blunt continued, This bill puts resources behind\r\nprograms that have been, and should continue to be, a bipartisan priority. But\r\nto prioritize limited resources, we have to look at areas where we can eliminate\r\nduplicative or unnecessary spending. That means we need to continue efforts to\r\ncrack down on waste, fraud, and abuse, and this bill does so. At the same time,\r\nthe programs funded will help maintain U.S. competitiveness and support\r\neconomic growth to improve our fiscal outlook over the long term. Since becoming chairman, over the last five years, Blunt has\r\nled the effort to reprioritize funding within the Labor/HHS bill, including\r\neliminating approximately 30 programs representing over $1 billion in annual\r\nsavings. This bill continues that effort, and eliminates an additional eight\r\nprograms totaling $115 million to reprioritize that funding for programs that\r\nwork and to address pressing needs. Key Missouri Priorities Funded in the Bill: Supporting Groundbreaking Medical Research and\r\nExpanding Access to Health Care Services, Including Mental and Behavioral\r\nHealth Care: National Institutes of Health (NIH): The\r\nbill includes a $2 billion increase for NIH. Since Blunt became chairman of the\r\nLabor/HHS subcommittee in 2015, NIH funding has increased by $13.6 billion, or\r\n45%. According to data from United for Medical Research, NIH funding supported\r\nnearly 476,000 jobs and more than $81 billion in economic activity nationwide\r\nin FY2019. In Missouri, NIH funding supported $1.6\r\nbillion in new economic activity and more than 9,000 jobs. Missouri\r\ninstitutions received $655.6 million in NIH funding for 1,321 grants in 2019.\r\nFrom 2015-2019, NIH funding to Missouri institutions increased by $184 million\r\nor 38%. \r\nEnding the HIV Epidemic: $518 million, an\r\nincrease of $207 million, to support the president's HIV initiative and other\r\nhigh priority HIV efforts to reduce the number of new HIV infections by 90% in\r\n10 years. The majority of these resources will be targeted to 48 counties and\r\nseven states, including Missouri, for prevention, diagnoses, research, and\r\nresponse activities. Missouri received over $3.5 million in fiscal year 2020\r\nfor these efforts.  \r\n \r\nOpioid Epidemic: $3.9 billion, an\r\nincrease of $88 million, to combat the opioid epidemic. Funds are targeted\r\ntoward improving treatment and prevention efforts; finding alternative pain\r\nmedications; workforce needs, especially in our rural communities; and treating\r\nbehavioral health. Importantly, the bill gives states flexibility to use opioid\r\nresponse funds on stimulants across multiple government programs. Preliminary\r\n2020 numbers show that the challenges of this year are likely to increase the\r\nnumber of opioid-involved deaths, emphasizing the need to continue these\r\ncritical investments. Under Blunt's leadership, funding for health-related\r\nopioid programs has increased by $3.6 billion.   \r\nMental Health: As a critical part of both\r\ncombating opioid abuse and ensuring safety in our schools and communities, the\r\nbill provides $4 billion, a $194 million increase, for mental health research,\r\ntreatment, and prevention, including:   \r\n o\r\nCertified Community Behavioral Health\r\nClinics: $250 million, an increase of $50 million, for Certified Community\r\nBehavioral Health Clinics. In 2018, Blunt targeted funding to community clinics\r\nthat provide a comprehensive approach to mental health care treatment. To date,\r\nMissouri clinics have received $26 million in funds from this program. Blunt\r\nhas led efforts to expand access to mental health care, including through his Excellence\r\nIn Mental Health Act, which created a pilot program in Missouri and seven\r\nother states to advance progress toward treating mental health like all other\r\nhealth. The program was extended and expanded to two additional states in the\r\nBlunt-backed CARES\r\nAct;   o\r\nProject AWARE: $121 million, a $19\r\nmillion increase, for the Project AWARE program that supports coordination\r\nbetween schools and state mental health agencies to increase awareness of\r\nmental health among school-aged kids, train school personnel on detecting and\r\nresponding to mental health issues, and connecting school-aged kids and their\r\nfamilies with needed services. Within this funding, the bill provides $15\r\nmillion, an increase of $5 million, to address areas that have experienced\r\ncivil unrest;    o\r\nMental Health Awareness Training: $24\r\nmillion, an increase of $1 million, for Mental Health Awareness Training in\r\nwhich Missouri was one of the first adopters;  \r\n o\r\nSuicide Programs: $103 million, an\r\nincrease of $13 million. This increase provides support to the suicide lifeline\r\nand grants to help identify and help those at risk of suicide;  \r\n o\r\nBehavioral Health Workforce Education &\r\nTraining: $138.9 million to support workforce training programs, including\r\nup to $29.5 million for the Mental and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Workforce\r\nTraining Demonstration for grants to train professionals to provide SUD and\r\nmental health treatment;   o\r\nPediatric Mental Health Access Grants:\r\n$10 million for Pediatric Mental Health Access Grants to expand access to\r\nbehavioral health services in pediatric primary care settings; and  \r\n o\r\nNational Institute of Mental Health:\r\n$2.14 billion for mental health research at NIH, an increase of $96.5 million. \r\nPublic Health Preparedness: $4.2 billion,\r\nan increase of $161 million, for HHS programs that help America's communities\r\nand hospitals prepare for, respond to, and recover from public health and\r\nmedical disasters and emergencies. These events include natural disasters,\r\npandemic diseases, and man-made threats. Since fiscal year 2015, the committee\r\nhas increased public health preparedness funding by $1.4 billion, or nearly\r\n50%. \r\nAlzheimer's Research and Care: The bill\r\nincreases investments in groundbreaking Alzheimer's research and caregiver\r\nsupport for one of America's most costly and prevalent diseases. The cost\r\nof caring for people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia is\r\nexpected to increase from $305 billion this year to $1.1 trillion by 2050, with\r\nMedicare and Medicaid paying roughly 70% of the total cost: o\r\n$3.17 billion for Alzheimer's disease research,\r\nan increase of $354 million. Under Blunt's chairmanship, there has been more\r\nthan a five-fold funding increase for Alzheimer's research;   o\r\n$15 million, an increase of $5 million, for the\r\nBOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act to create a national public health\r\ninfrastructure to increase early detection and diagnosis and support prevention\r\nefforts; and   o\r\n$27.5 million, an increase of $1 million, for\r\nexpanding direct services through the Alzheimer's disease program at the\r\nAdministration for Community Living. \r\nCommunity Health Centers: $1.71 billion\r\nfor Community Health Centers, an increase of $87 million. As co-chair of the\r\nCommunity Health Center caucus, Blunt has introduced\r\nlegislation to reauthorize and increase mandatory funding for the program.\r\nThere are more than 300 sites in Missouri, with Missouri health centers\r\nreceiving over $115 million in federal grant funding to serve a total of more\r\nthan 606,000 patients a year. \r\nMedical Student Education: $50 million\r\nfor Medical Student Education funding for states with the highest projected\r\nprimary care physician shortages in 2025. Funding will provide supplemental\r\ngrants to 2019 and 2020 grantees, including both the University of Missouri and\r\nUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City. \r\nRural Health: $325.4 million for Rural\r\nHealth Care programs, an increase of $7 million. The obstacles faced by\r\npatients and providers in rural communities are unique and often significantly\r\ndifferent from those in urban areas. Funding for rural health care programs has\r\nmore than doubled under Blunt's chairmanship. o\r\nDelta States Network Rural Development\r\nNetwork Grant: $27 million, an increase of $5 million, to continue a\r\nprogram to help underserved rural communities in the Delta identify and better\r\naddress their health care needs. This includes $15 million for the Delta Region\r\nCommunity Health Systems Development (DRCHSD) program, which started under\r\nBlunt's chairmanship, to help small rural hospitals improve their financial and\r\noperational stability. Pemiscot County Memorial Hospital in Hayti, Mo., and\r\nIron County Hospital in Pilot Knob, Mo., have participated\r\nin the DRCHSD program since December 2017 and Ste. Genevieve County Memorial\r\nHospital in Ste. Genevieve, Mo. has participated since October 2019. \r\nChildren's Hospitals Graduate Medical\r\nEducation (CHGME): $355 million, a $15 million increase, for the CHGME\r\nprogram, which protects children's access to high quality medical care by\r\nproviding freestanding children's hospitals with funding to support the\r\ntraining of pediatric providers. In Missouri, Children's Mercy Hospital in\r\nKansas City and St. Louis Children's Hospital received more than $13 million\r\nlast year in combined funding from this program. This funding level represents\r\nan increase of $90 million for CHGME under Blunt's chairmanship, or 34%. Promoting State and Local Flexibility in Education,\r\nincluding Early Childhood Education: \r\nHead Start: $10.7 billion, an increase of\r\n$100 million, to help all Head Start programs keep up with rising costs,\r\nmaintain enrollment, and continue to provide high-quality services for children\r\nand families. Missouri Head Start programs receive more than $167 million\r\nannually and provide high-quality early childhood services to 15,000 children\r\nand their families. \r\nChild Care and Development Block Grant\r\n(CCDBG): $5.9 billion, an increase of $50 million. Over the last three\r\nyears funding for CCDBG has more than doubled, which has helped improve the\r\nsafety and quality of child care programs, including increasing provider\r\npayment rates, and expand working families' access to high-quality child care.\r\nMissouri receives over $106 million from the CCDBG annually. \r\nIndividuals with Disabilities Education Act\r\n(IDEA): $13.8 billion, an increase of $125 million, to support the\r\neducational needs of students with disabilities, which includes an increase of\r\n$7.5 million for preschool grants and an increase of $7.5 million for grants\r\nfor infants and families. Missouri received approximately $262 million from\r\nthese programs for this school year. \r\nTitle I Grants to Local Educational Agencies:\r\n$16.4 billion, an increase of $125 million, for grants to school districts to\r\nhelp all children meet challenging state academic standards. Missouri received\r\napproximately $260 million in Title I funding for this school year to support\r\nschools with a significant number or percentage of low-income students. \r\nImpact Aid: $1.5 billion, an increase of\r\n$20 million. Missouri school districts receive approximately $28 million to\r\nhelp compensate for the presence of federal activities and land, including lost\r\nrevenue. \r\nSTEM and Computer Science Education (CSE):\r\n$75 million, an increase of $10 million, in targeted STEM education funding,\r\nincluding specifically prioritizing CSE. \r\nCareer and Technical Education State Grants:\r\n$1.4 billion, an increase of $75 million. Missouri received approximately $25\r\nmillion to support CTE programs across the state this school year. \r\nCharter Schools Program: $450 million, an\r\nincrease of $10 million, to help support the creation, replication, and\r\nexpansion of high-quality charter schools. \r\nPell Grants: For the fourth year in a\r\nrow, the bill increases the maximum Pell Grant award, an increase of $150, or\r\n2.4%, for the 2021-22 school year, from $6,345 to $6,495. Approximately 90,000\r\nstudents receive over $350 million in Pell Grant funding to attend Missouri\r\ncolleges and universities. The bill continues support for year-round Pell\r\nGrants, which help students complete post-secondary education programs faster\r\nand enter or re-enter the workforce sooner. Blunt successfully\r\nled efforts to restore eligibility for year-round Pell Grants in the FY2017\r\nomnibus appropriations bill. Preparing America's Workforce: \r\nCareer Pathways: $10 million for an\r\ninitiative at the Department of Labor to improve career pathways for students\r\nthat can lead to the full-range of post-secondary college and career options. \r\nRural Postsecondary Education and Economic\r\nDevelopment Program: $10 million for a new initiative to improve postsecondary\r\naccess and completion among rural students by providing services for students\r\nfrom middle school through college and promoting partnerships between school\r\ndistricts, institutions of higher education, and regional economic development\r\norganizations. \r\nApprenticeship Opportunities: $195\r\nmillion, an increase of $20 million, for the Apprenticeship Program to expand\r\nflexible and effective workforce training opportunities. Within this amount,\r\n$10 million is for Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs). Apprenticeship Missouri is one of the\r\nnation's first IRAP standards recognition entities, responsible for ensuring\r\nhigh-quality standards for apprenticeships expanding to new industries, such as\r\nhealth care and information technology. \r\nVeterans' Employment and Training (VETS)\r\nPrograms: $316 million, an increase of $5 million, for VETS programs.\r\nFunding supports veterans in the transition assistance program as they move\r\ninto the civilian workforce and helps homeless veterans attain skills for meaningful\r\nemployment. o\r\nThe bill continues to provide the Department of\r\nLabor with the necessary resources to carry out Blunt's HIRE\r\nVets Act, which established a tiered recognition program within the\r\nDepartment of Labor to award employers based on their contributions to veteran\r\nemployment. Seven\r\nemployers in Missouri received a HIRE Vets Medallion in 2019. \r\nRural Workforce Training Initiative: $40\r\nmillion, an increase of $10 million, to continue the Workforce Opportunity in\r\nRural Communities program started in 2018 under Blunt's chairmanship to provide\r\nreemployment and training assistance in the Delta and Appalachian regions. This\r\nyear, Blunt recognized\r\nthree Missouri grant recipients for their awards totaling more than $3.5\r\nmillion. \r\nWorkforce Training Programs: $2.8 billion\r\nfor state workforce training programs. These funds are distributed by formula\r\nto states and localities to meet each state's unique job training and\r\nreemployment needs. Missouri received $35.6 million for training and employment\r\nservices grants in 2020. \r\nYouth Workforce Training Programs: The\r\nbill continues funding for programs that provide at-risk youth with the\r\nopportunity to gain educational and occupational skills: o\r\nJob Corps: $1.7 billion. Missouri has three Job\r\nCorps centers located in Excelsior Springs, Puxico, and St. Louis.   o\r\nYouthBuild: $94.5 million. Missouri has four current\r\nYouthBuild grantees located in Columbia, St. Joseph, and St. Louis. Reducing Fraud, Waste, and Abuse of Taxpayer Dollars: \r\nReemployment Services and Eligibility\r\nAssessments: $200 million to conduct enhanced, in-person assessments to\r\naccelerate the reemployment of Unemployment Compensation recipients in order to\r\nreduce the duration of their time receiving benefits and the likelihood of\r\nexhausting benefit coverage. These actions would also help protect the\r\nintegrity of the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund by reducing improper\r\npayments. This program has been shown to save $2.60 for every $1.00 spent.   \r\nHealth Care Fraud and Abuse Control (HCFAC):\r\n$807 million, an increase of $21 million, is provided by utilizing the cap\r\nadjustment in the Budget Control Act. For every $1.00 spent on HCFAC, $2.00 is\r\nrecovered by the U.S. Treasury. This will create over $10.2 billion in savings\r\nto the Treasury over 10 years.   \r\nPreventing Social Security Disability Fraud,\r\nAbuse, and Improper Payments: $1.6 billion is provided to support periodic\r\nreviews to ensure that individuals receiving Social Security disability\r\nbenefits are still eligible under program rules. This funding is estimated to\r\nsave approximately $9 billion over 10 years for the Social Security, Medicare,\r\nand Medicaid programs. Other highlights of the bill include: \r\nAdoption Opportunities: $46 million, an\r\nincrease of $4 million, to help remove barriers to adoption and find permanent\r\nhomes for children, particularly children with special needs. \r\nCorporation for National and Community\r\nService: $1.15 billion, an increase of $50 million, including an increase\r\nof $32 million for AmeriCorps and $8 million for Senior Corps programs. Last\r\nyear, more than 1,300 AmeriCorps and 3,500 Senior Corps members helped address\r\nlocal needs in schools and communities across Missouri, including responding to\r\nnatural disasters. Blunt has also cosponsored\r\nlegislation to expand national service programs to help the nation respond\r\nto and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. \r\nProgram Eliminations: The bill focuses\r\nfunding on programs that are efficient, cost-effective, and have proven\r\noutcomes. The committee recommendation includes eight program eliminations,\r\nequating to $114.9 million in spending reductions.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blunt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/blunt-releases-fy2021-labor-health-and-human-services-and-education-funding-bill"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8621499873697758, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}