The Prevention Institute put together this quick review of the recently-passed and signed Federal spending plan:
Last week, Congress passed and the President signed a $1.1 trillion spending plan that funds the federal government through September 2016. This follows the enactment of a two-year bipartisan budget deal, which established overall spending levels and partially lifted sequestration through fiscal year 2017.
The 2000-page spending bill packs several wins for community prevention, but also some setbacks:
Wins
- Fully funds and allocates the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
- Maintains funding for Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH).
- Reserves funding for the third and final year of the Partnerships to Improve Community Health (PICH) program, though the details of this particular allocation are still unfolding.
- Leaves out most harmful policy riders (like defunding Planned Parenthood) that were under consideration during budget negotiations.
- Preserves tobacco control funding for initiatives like the Tips from Former Smokers media campaign.
- Boosts the CDC’s injury prevention and control funding with an emphasis on preventing opioid prescription drug overdose.
- Maintains funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s mental health programs, including suicide prevention and youth violence prevention.
Losses
- Extends a 19-year ban on gun violence research.
- Fails to reauthorize child nutrition programs, including the WIC Special Supplemental Nutrition Program and the Afterschool Snack and Meal program.
- Places new restrictions on future dietary guidelines that may limit discussions of long-term food security and environmental sustainability.
- Eliminates funding for workplace wellness and scales back funding for health promotion.
- Allows schools to waive whole grain food requirements on individual products and delays further reductions to sodium requirements for school meals.
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