Get Up-To-Date on Federal MCH Policy
The next event in the All-Member National MCH Policy Call series will take place on Thursday, June 6^th from 2-3 p.m. ET.

House Appropriations Committee Approves FY20 L-HHS Bill, Includes $27.3M Increase for Title V
On May 8, the House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year 2020 (FY20) Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) bill, which includes $705 million for the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant. This is a $27.3 million increase for Title V compared to the fiscal year 2019 funding level. The full bill text, report language, and amendments adopted by the House Appropriations Committee are available on the committee's website.

Copied below are a few highlights from the bill. AMCHP will provide a more detailed summary in the coming days. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to AMCHP's Government Affairs Team with any questions: Amy Haddad ahaddad@amchp.org or Alyson Northrup anorthrup@amchp.org.

HRSA

Title V MCH Block Grant: $705M ($27.3M increase)
Healthy Start: $130.5M ($8M increase)

CDC

Safe Motherhood: $58M, including $12M for Maternal Mortality Review Committee Activities (level funding)
National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities: $161.6M ($6M increase)
Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies: $10M (level funding)

Keep in mind that the funding levels included in the House FY20 LHHS bill are not final; there are still several steps to go in the FY20 appropriations process. Next steps: We expect the full House of Representatives to consider this bill in June. We are also hearing rumors that the Senate Appropriations Committee may begin its work on the bill in June, as well. We will keep you posted!

House Members Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Reauthorize Newborn Screening Programs
On May 15, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) introduced a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act along with her colleagues Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.). AMCHP endorsed this legislation to extend several federal newborn screening programs. The Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2019 (H.R. 2507) will ensure essential federal newborn screening programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Health Resources and Services Administration continue for the next five years. It makes targeted improvements to federal newborn screening programs, including increasing authorized funding levels, ensuring federal agencies have the flexibility to address emerging technologies and new conditions, and improving surveillance activities. The bill also commissions the National Academy of Medicine to issue a report on the modernization of newborn screening and make appropriate recommendations.

Members of House, Senate Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Raise Tobacco Age to 21
On April 30, bipartisan members in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate introduced legislation to raise the minimum legal tobacco sale age to 21. AMCHP endorsed the Tobacco to 21 Act (S. 1258 / H.R. 2411), which was introduced by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) in the Senate and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) in the House. A 2015 report by the National Academy of Medicine concluded that increasing the minimum age of legal access to tobacco products to 21 nationwide would, over time, significantly reduce the number of youth and young adults who start smoking as well as smoking-related deaths.