Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2018 Appropriations

Summary

This report offers an overview of actions taken by Congress and the President to provide FY2018 appropriations for accounts funded by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations bill. This bill includes all accounts funded through the annual appropriations process at the Departments of Labor (DOL) and Education (ED). It also provides annual appropriations for most agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with certain exceptions (e.g., the Food and Drug Administration is funded via the Agriculture bill). Finally, the LHHS bill provides funds for more than a dozen related agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA).

As of the date of this report, FY2018 annual appropriations for LHHS have not been enacted into law. The House and Senate appropriations committees have reported their respective versions of the LHHS bill to their parent chambers (H.R. 3358 and S. 1771). While the LHHS bill has not yet received initial floor consideration in the Senate, the text of the House committee-reported version was initially considered as part of the omnibus appropriations bill, the Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act, 2018 (H.R. 3354), which passed the House on September 14, 2017. (As bill-wide numbers that incorporate the budgetary effects of the LHHS-related floor amendments to H.R. 3354 are generally not available, the House budget numbers in this report are based on H.R. 3358 as reported by the House Appropriations Committee. The LHHS-related amendments that were offered during floor consideration of H.R. 3358 are discussed in Appendix B.)

FY2018 Continuing Resolutions: Temporary funding for LHHS has been provided by four continuing resolutions (CRs). The first was enacted on September 8, 2017 (H.R. 601, Division D; P.L. 115-56). With limited exceptions, this CR generally funded discretionary LHHS programs through December 8, 2017, at FY2017 levels minus a reduction of about two-thirds of one percent (-0.6791%). A second CR extended the expiration date of the first CR through December 22, 2017 (H.J.Res. 123; P.L. 115-90). A third CR extended the expiration date through January 19, 2018 (H.R. 1370; P.L. 115-96). After a funding gap that commenced on January 20, 2018, a fourth CR was enacted two days later that extended funding through February 8, 2018 (H.R. 195).

FY2018 LHHS House Action: The House Appropriations Committee’s version of the FY2018 LHHS appropriations bill was ordered reported by the full committee on July 19, 2017, by a vote of 28-22, and reported to the House on July 24 (H.R. 3358). This bill would provide $168.9 billion in discretionary LHHS funds, a 2.6% decrease from FY2017 enacted levels. This amount is 13.4% more than the FY2018 President’s request. In addition, the House committee bill would provide an estimated $817.4 billion in mandatory funding, for a combined total of $986.3 billion for LHHS as a whole. The distribution of discretionary funding is as follows:

DOL: $10.6 billion, 12.6% less than FY2017.

HHS: $77.6 billion, 0.7% less than FY2017.

ED: $66.0 billion, 3.2% less than FY2017.

Related Agencies: $14.7 billion, 1.1% less than FY2017.

FY2018 LHHS Senate Action: The Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version of the FY2018 LHHS appropriations bill on September 7, 2017, by a vote of 29-2 (S. 1771). This bill would provide $174.4 billion in discretionary LHHS funds. This is 0.6% more than FY2017, and 17.2% more than the FY2018 President’s request. In addition, the Senate committee bill would provide an estimated $817.4 billion in mandatory funding, for a combined total of $991.9 billion for LHHS as a whole. The distribution of discretionary funding is as follows:

DOL: $12.0 billion, 0.5% less than FY2017.

HHS: $79.8 billion, 2.1% more than FY2017.

ED: $68.3 billion, 0.04% more than FY2017.

Related Agencies: $14.4 billion, 3.6% less than FY2017.

FY2018 President’s Budget Request: On May 23, 2017, the Trump Administration released the FY2018 President’s budget. The President requested $148.9 billion in discretionary funding for accounts funded by the LHHS bill, which is a decrease of 14.1% from FY2017 levels. In addition, the President requested $815.8 billion in annually appropriated mandatory funding, for a total of $964.7 billion for the LHHS bill as a whole. The distribution of discretionary funding is as follows:

DOL: $9.7 billion, 19.4% less than FY2017.

HHS: $63.0 billion, 19.3% less than FY2017.

ED: $62.9 billion, 7.8% less than FY2017.

Related Agencies: $13.2 billion, 11.1% less than FY2017.