House Passes Bill to Fund Government for Remainder of FY22
March 10, 2022

Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) omnibus appropriations bill that, when enacted, will set discretionary funding levels through the rest of the current fiscal year. The U.S. Senate is expected to approve the bill in the next few days and send the bill to President Biden for his signature into law.

The FY22 omnibus appropriations bill includes funding for the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant at $747.7 million, an increase of $35 million above the FY21 funding level. While AMCHP hoped to see a final FY22 funding level for the MCH Block Grant that was closer to what the House approved for the program last summer, we are grateful that Congress is nearing the completion of its FY22 appropriations work without additional long-term continuing resolutions and will provide a funding bump to several maternal and child health programs.

In addition to the FY22 funding levels, which are further outlined below, the omnibus appropriations bill includes authorizing language from two bills focused on improving maternal health outcomes: 1. the Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act (H.R.4387/S.1675); and 2. the Rural MOMS Act (H.R.769/S.1491). Upon passage of the omnibus appropriations bill, these two authorizing bills will also become law. AMCHP has advocated for the passage of these bills for many years and is thrilled to see Congress advancing them through the omnibus legislation. For further details about these bills, visit AMCHP’s Maternal Health Bill Tracker.

Looking forward, AMCHP’s advocacy efforts for the next fiscal year are well underway as we ask Congress to provide $1 billion for the MCH Block Grant in FY23 and greater investments in maternal and child health and public health programs overall. In the meantime, below are some highlights from the FY22 bill.

HRSA:

  • Maternal and Child Health Block Grant: $747.7 million, an increase of $35 million above FY21
  • Alliance for Maternal Health Innovation: $12 million, an increase of $3 million above FY21
  • State Maternal Health Innovation Grants: $29 million, an increase of $6 million above FY21
  • Maternal Mental Health Hotline: $4 million, an increase of $1 million above FY21
  • Healthy Start: $132 million, an increase of $4 million above FY21
  • Screening and Treatment for Maternal Depression and Related Disorders: $6.5 million, an increase of $1.5 million above FY21
  • Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies: $6 million, an increase of $1 million above FY21

CDC:

  • Safe Motherhood and Infant Health: $83 million, an increase of $20 million above FY21
  • Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies: $13,000,000, an increase of $3 million above FY21
  • Public Health Infrastructure: $200 million in a new, flexible funding stream for public health infrastructure and capacity
  • Public Health Data Modernization: $100 million, an increase of $50 million above FY21 to modernize public health data surveillance and analytics at CDC and state and local health departments
  • Public Health Workforce: $61 million, an increase of $5 million above FY21, in public health workforce initiatives
  • Public Health Emergency Preparedness: $715 million, an increase of $20 million above FY21, for public health emergency preparedness cooperative agreements

NIH:

  • An increase of $30 million to support research on maternal morbidity and mortality through the Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative
  • An increase of $50 million for health disparities research
  • $12.5 million to continue firearm injury and mortality prevention research

SAMHSA:

  • $34.9 million for Pregnant & Postpartum Women under the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant, an increase of $2 million above the FY21
  • Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health: $10 million, an increase of $2 million above FY21

FY22 Omnibus Appropriations Bill Resources:

As always, please don’t hesitate to be in touch with AMCHP’s Government Affairs Team: Amy Haddad (ahaddad@amchp.org), Alyson Northrup (anorthrup@amchp.org), and Lauren Blachowiak (lblachowiak@amchp.org).

Back to Legislative Alerts