Series of Amendments Go Through Process to Increase Lyme/TBD CDC $$$

In a complex government process, the Tick Act–a bill that provides funding for Vector-Borne Diseases including Lyme– was not fully funded according to the Committee report on HHS. The Committee report has 16M for Lyme and 38M for vector-borne diseases.

(NOTE: as LDA has mentioned in prior information on the Tick Act, it is for Vector-Borne Diseases of which TBD are only a part). 

To address the issue, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-4) developed an amendment to raise that funding for TBD, which was co-sponsored by Congressman Collin Peterson (MN). During amendment development, the President’s budget request for 2021 was examined, which asked for $14 million increase over 2020 for vector-borne diseases.  Suggested funding levels in the Tick Act for vector-borne diseases were also examined. The LDA provided input into that amendment process and concurred with an additional $11.4M to be asked for on top of the $2M increase in appropriations asked for in the report. Congressmen Smith and Peterson submitted the amendment for $11.4M, but Congressman Delgado (NY) also submitted an amendment, asking for $4M. The Congressmen agreed on $4M in an amendment Smith et al # 289.

Amendment # 289. Smith, Christopher (NJ), Peterson (MN), Stefanik (NY), Delgado (NY), Rose, Max (NY) does the following:  Redirects $4 million from General Departmental Management at the Department of Health and Human Services to Emerging Zoonotic and Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control, for Lyme Disease and other Vector-Borne Diseases.

House Report 116-461, the Rules Committee Report on HR 7167, with amendments made in order, including the Chris Smith amendment. A description of the Smith amendment (289) is on page 33 of the pdf, and the actual language is on page 365 of the pdf. 

Listen to the video below of Congressman Smith pitching the amendment to the committee.