Week ahead: Spending fight shifts from Zika to Flint

There’s a new public health crisis at the center of a government funding fight this week: Flint.

Democrats in both chambers are threatening to reject the GOP’s latest budget proposal because it ignores the city’s lead contamination but provides relief for flood victims in Louisiana.

{mosads}Republican leaders will have five days to avert a shutdown when they return to Capitol Hill next week. The drama kicks off again Tuesday, when the Senate votes on a 160-page bill to fund the government through Dec. 9. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has vowed to oppose that vote because it excludes Flint aid.

The short-term government funding bill, which was formally unveiled Thursday, gives $500 million to help people in Louisiana whose homes were flooded in August storms. Democrats, led by Reid and Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), have called the bill a nonstarter without new funding to help people in Flint, most of whom still can’t drink water from their homes.

A “no” vote in the Senate could be avoided if the House acts first to commit money toward Flint.

Republicans, including Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), have said funding for Flint belongs in a separate package called the Water Resources Development Act, which will go up for a vote in the House as soon as Monday night. The current House bill does not include funding for the water crisis, though the Senate’s version does, and GOP leaders have argued that the Flint money could be added during a conference.

The same spending bill had previously been held up over funding to fight the Zika virus. The GOP’s latest proposal would provide $1.1 billion to stop the spread of the virus, while dropping partisan provisions involving Planned Parenthood and pesticide use.

Hearings:

TUESDAY: The Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittees hold a hearing on dangerous pathogens in bioresearch labs at 2 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: The House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee holds a hearing on healthcare fraud investigations at 10 am.

Appearances:

THURSDAY: Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell will speak around 10 a.m. at the Atlantic Ideas forum.

Events:

The Alliance for Health Reform holds an event Monday on the future of healthcare exchanges, featuring representatives from Anthem, Covered California, the American Action Forum and the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms.

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