Date: Tuesday, April 30, 1996
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: HHS Press Office 202)690-6343

1996 BUDGET AGREEMENT

HHS Priorities are Preserved during Negotiations with Congress

• Congress passed a budget last week that restores $5.1 billion in 1996 for health and social services, education and training, law enforcement, the environment and other key priorities.
• HHS won substantial gain-backs from the House markup of the appropriations bill last June. Total HHS discretionary spending for programs in the Labor/HHS/Education appropriation is $29.4 billion. This is $1.5 billion above the House mark of last June. This final amount represents an overall cut of 1.3 percent from the FY 1995 level for HHS -- whereas under the June House mark, the proposed cut was 6.5 percent.
• Add-backs to the HHS budget account for a large percentage of all government add-backs that the Clinton Administration secured during negotiations with Congress.

OVERVIEW OF BUDGET NUMBERS WITH SPECIFIC HIGHLIGHTS

(Budget Authority in Millions)

ACF

• Head Start: The June House mark provided $3.397 billion for Head Start. Under the budget agreement, Head Start funding was increased to $3.570 billion, a 5 percent increase over the House mark.
• Violence Against Women Act/Family Violence: Under the budget agreement, funding for family violence programs and battered women's shelters was increased to $48 million, a 46 percent increase over FY 95 levels. -

LIHEAP: The June House mark eliminated funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Under the bipartisan agreement, LIHEAP will receive $900 million in FY 96, plus up to $420 million in emergency funding for FY 1997.

HRSA

• Healthy Start: The June House mark for this program, designed to stem infant mortality, was $50 million, more than a 50 percent cut from FY 95 levels. Under the budget agreement, Healthy Start will receive $93 million, an 86 percent increase from the House mark.
• Ryan White AIDS Programs: The June House mark for Ryan White funding was $656 million, a full $67 million less than the President's request. This level would have severely impacted communities already facing an overwhelming demand for services. Subsequent to the original budget request, the President also proposed a $52 million amendment to defray costs of new AIDS drugs. As a result of the President's ongoing resolve to protect HIV/AIDS services, the Ryan White funding was increased to $738.5 million, a 13 percent increase from the initial House mark.

SAMHSA

• Substance Abuse Demonstrations: The June House mark proposed $127.7 million for substance abuse demonstrations, a devastating 72 percent reduction from FY 95 levels. Under the budget agreement, the Administration secured a partial restoration of the funding to $180 million.

AHCPR

FY 95	June House Mark	FY 96 Agreement
$159.4	$65.5	$125.3

• AHCPR Appropriations: The June House mark for AHCPR was $65.5 million, representing an 59 percent cut from FY 95 levels. Under the budget agreement, Congress has added back $59.8 million to bring the FY 96 level to $125.3, a 91 percent increase from the House mark.

Following is a complete listing of HHS agencies and their final budgets for FY 96. A number of these agencies and specific programs had full-year budgets under previous continuing resolutions.

FY 96 Funding Levels (in millions)

HHS Discretionary Budget