UPDATE on The #STARACT
Over the past several weeks, advocates have been working diligently to ensure that the STAR Act is fully funded so that the NIH and CDC can begin the programs created under the Act in the fiscal year that begins on October 1, 2018. As you may recall, the STAR Act contains an Authorization of Appropriations that allows Congress to provide up to $30 million for the STAR Act programs each year for the next five years.
The Senate Appropriations Committee provided the necessary language to fund the STAR Act.
The House is currently in recess and will return to DC on September 4. The House Appropriations Committee began work on their Labor/HHS Appropriations bill before the President had signed the STAR Act into law, and therefore did not include funding (since you can’t fund programs that don’t yet exist).
Happily, our House Champions have already had conversations with the House Appropriations Leadership Committee.
Further, they must conference their bill with the Senate later this fall to reach agreement on a final funding bill to send to the President. We are working to ensure that the House agrees to the Senate funding for the STAR Act.
For the CDC surveillance programs, the Senate Appropriations Committee has included an increase of $2,000,000 to be awarded to State cancer registries to enhance and expand infrastructure to track cancer in children, adolescents, and young adults.
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