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Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill

Thursday, December 22, 2022
dfarquhar@neha.org

Congress has released a bipartisan and bicameral (i.e. both legislative branched) spending package, known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023. The package includes all of the fiscal year (FY) 2023 (FY23) appropriations bills for the following agencies: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration(FDA), and Related Agencies; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Related Agencies. These agency budgets provide funding for FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control  and Healthy Homes.

The 12 appropriations bills include $800 billion in nondefense funding, a $68 billion increase over last year. This funding is the highest level ever for nondefense programs.

Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The agreement provides $9,217,590,000 in total program level funding for CDC, which includes $8,258,932,000 in budget authority and $903,300,000 in transfers from the Prevention and Public Health (PPH) Fund.

More than one half of the increased amount in the bill is directed to significant investments in our nation’s public health infrastructure, including:

  • $350 million for public health infrastructure and capacity nationwide
  • $175 million to modernize public health data surveillance and analytics at CDC and state and local health departments
  • $71 million for public health workforce initiatives
  • $293 million for global public health protection
  • $187 million for the National Center for Health Statistics
  • $735 million for public health emergency preparedness cooperative agreements

The bill provides increases for numerous public health efforts, including:

  • $108 million for safe maternal and infant health
  • $220 million for the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative
  • $505 million for opioid overdose prevention and surveillance
  • $197 million for the antibiotic resistance initiative 

Environmental Health

The agreement provides $246,850,000 for environmental health programs, which includes $17,000,000 in transfers from the PPH Fund. This funding is a $24 million increase over FY 2022.

FY 2023 Budget Activity Agreement for the National Center for Environmental Health:

  • Environmental Health Laboratory: $70,750,000 
  • Safe Water: $8,600,000
  • Climate and Health: $10,000,000
  • Environmental Health Activities: $21,000,000 
  • Environmental and Health Outcome Tracking Network: $34,000,000 
  • Asthma: $33,500,000 
  • Childhood Lead Poisoning:$51,000,000 
  • Lead Exposure Registry: $5,000,000

Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases

The agreement provides $750,772,000 for emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases, which includes $698,772,000 in discretionary appropriations and $52,000,000 in transfers from the PPH Fund.
The agreement includes the following amounts for the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases:

  • Antibiotic Resistance Initiative: $197,000,000
  • Vectorborne Diseases: $62,603,000
  • Lyme Disease: $26,000,000
  • Prion Disease: $7,500,000
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: $5,400,000
  • Emerging Infectious Diseases: $202,997,000
  • Harmful Algal Blooms: $3,500,000
  • Food Safety: $71,000,000
  • National Healthcare Safety Network: $24,000,000
  • Quarantine: $58,772,000
  • Advanced Molecular Detection: $40,000,000
  • Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity: $40,000,000
  • Healthcare-Associated Infections: $12,000,000

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

In the Interior, Environment, and Independent Agencies section of the bill, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry received an increase of $4.5 million, bringing its total to $85,020,000.

Food and Drug Administration

FDA receives a total of $3.5 billion in discretionary funding in the bill, an increase of $226 million above FY 2022. The funding includes a $41 million increase to better avoid or more quickly respond to foodborne outbreaks, improve the animal food inspection system, and address heavy metals in baby food.

The agreement expects FDA to continue all programs, projects, activities, and laboratories, as included in FY 2022 unless otherwise specified, and maintains the $1,500,000 transfer to the Office of the Inspector General within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its audit and oversight work involving FDA.

The agreement provides a net increase of $226,005,000:

  • $41,000,000 is for food safety activities
  • $121,122,000 is for crosscutting initiatives supporting both medical and food safety
  • $21,083,000 is for infrastructure investments
  • $10,000,000 for maternal and infant health and nutrition
  • $8,000,000 for emerging chemical and toxicology issues
  • $20,000,000 for the New Era of Smarter Food Safety
  • $1,000,000 for machine learning
  • $1,000,000 for sodium-reduction targets
  • $1,000,000 for standards of identity

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

For FY 2023, the bill provides a total of $58.2 billion for HUD, an increase of $4.5 billion from FY 2022. Congress gave $410 million for the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes—$10 million above the president’s budget request—including $5 million to continue a radon testing and mitigation demonstration program for public housing and $25 million to continue a demonstration program to conduct inspections for lead in housing choice voucher units.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will receive $10.14 billion under the bill, an increase of $576 million (6%)  from FY 2022.

Additional Details on the Specific Appropriations Bills

For more information on the FY 2023 appropriation bills, please contact Doug Farquhar, NEHA director of Government Affairs.