With reclaiming unspent COVID-19 funds being one of the few points of compromise in debt ceiling negotiations between House Republicans and the White House, here is what to know about the public health dollars on the chopping block.
Dollar for dollar
The Congressional Budget Office projected that $56 billion is all that remains unobligated of the $4.62 trillion that the Government Accountability Office estimated was appropriated by Congress in the six pieces of COVID-19 response legislation in 2020 and 2021. Only 1.2% of what has been appropriated by Congress would be reclaimed by the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which is the GOP's legislation to raise the debt ceiling while cutting spending.
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CBO also projected that the clawbacks would contribute to $30 billion in deficit reduction by 2033.
Programs taking the biggest hit
The programs funded by COVID-19 appropriations bills that would take the largest hit under the Republican plan are only tangentially related to public health.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking member of the House Committee on Appropriations, produced a detailed report on how the unspent COVID-19 funds were intended to be used, which clarified that 138 different Treasury accounts would be affected.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, for example, would lose $1 billion for disaster relief efforts, exacerbating its already projected $12 billion 2023 shortfall.
The Emergency Connectivity Fund, a $760 million project of the Federal Communications Commission that provides internet access and devices to "students, school staff, and library patrons," would also be eliminated entirely under the Republican plan.
The largest singular category in DeLauro's report, $6 billion, is earmarked for the Department of Transportation to provide for state and local governments to maintain transportation infrastructure, including airports, trains, and roadways. DeLauro argued at the time that spending COVID-19 dollars on these projects would free up funds from infrastructure-specific legislation for larger projects as opposed to day-to-day operations.
Public health measures seeing cuts
The CBO said a significant amount of the rescinded funds would come from locally administered but federally funded projects, including rental assistance and support programs for underdeveloped health systems.
National League of Cities Legislative Director Mike Gleeson said the NLC is no longer concerned that local and state governments are in jeopardy of losing funds allocated to them by the federal government but not yet obligated within the jurisdiction.
Some public health experts, however, are concerned that reclaiming unused COVID-19 funds means that this money can no longer be spent on preparing health systems for future epidemics, such as rising rates of sexually transmitted infections. Executive Director of the National Coalition of STD Directors David Harvey told Politico: "If they cut back that money, it'll set us back 15 years. ... If that funding is taken away, instantly, overnight, we will lose our ability to have the boots-on-the-ground workforce to knock on doors, do outbreak investigations, navigate people through the health care system, and help people get tested and treated."
Categories directly related to the COVID-19 response that are being reduced include domestic manufacturing of vaccines and personal protective equipment, strengthening rural and Native American health systems, and preventing zoonotic disease outbreaks.
Likely to be kept in the compromise
Reclaiming unspent COVID-19 funds is one of the few areas of bipartisan support, with Biden earlier this month stating that he is willing to negotiate on that point.
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Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra stressed that COVID-19 preparedness continues to be a top priority for his department despite the end of the public health emergency earlier this month.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said earlier this month: "If the money was authorized to fight the pandemic but was not spent during the pandemic, it should not be spent after the pandemic is over."
Tags: Debt Ceiling, Coronavirus, News, Kevin McCarthy, Healthcare
Original Author: Gabrielle M. Etzel
Original Location: What's at stake in GOP effort to cut unspent COVID-19 funds