Today, Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) Co-Chairs Congresswomen Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), Jackie Speier (CA-14), and Lois Frankel (FL-21), and Vice Chairs Congresswomen Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29) issued the following statement highlighting historic wins for women and families in the Appropriation bills passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this week.
“The Democratic Women’s Caucus and House Democrats have worked tirelessly to pass these spending bills to improve the lives of women and families who for more than a year have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the Members. “The historic appropriations bills we passed this week include robust funding for improving women’s access to family planning, education, affordable child care and elder care, and efforts to end gender-based violence, while removing harmful barriers to reproductive health care that put women's health at risk at home and abroad. Specifically, these bills eliminate dangerous provisions that prohibit the use of federal funds for abortions for women in the United States and around the world, and that force doctors to choose between federal funding and providing accurate medical information to their patients.These bills set a new, higher standard for more equitable investments across federal programs so that women, here and around the world, can live free from violence and discrimination and contribute meaningfully to a strong economy and secure future for all of us.”
KEY POLICY PROVISIONS IN THE BILLS
Defending Reproductive Health Care
Eliminates the Hyde and Weldon amendments, long-standing discriminatory policy which denied low-income women their legal right to an abortion
Includes language consistent with the Administration’s proposed new Title X rule, which will help restore grant funding to Planned Parenthood and other health clinics that offer the full range of reproductive health services
Eliminates provisions preventing Federal Employee Health Benefit Plans from covering abortion services
Eliminates the ban on D.C. using its own local funds to support women’s health services
Eliminates the ban on use of Department of Justice funds for abortion care for women in federal prisons
Eliminates the Helms amendment, a ban on foreign assistance funding for safe abortion and health care services globally
Permanently repeals the Global Gag Rule on nongovernmental organizations that receive U.S. assistance
Addressing Violence Against Women
Robust funding for global efforts to end gender-based violence, including in countries with high levels of violence and conflict
Funding for the Care Economy
$3.1 billion increase for child care and early childhood programs over FY 2021 enacted levels, with $7.4 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant
$551 million for Home and Community-Based Supportive Services, an increase of $158 million above the FY 2021 level
ADDITIONAL WINS FOR WOMEN
Department of Health and Human Services
$1.2 billion for programs to improve maternal and child health, an increase of $214 million above FY 2021, including an additional $156 million for the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant
$400 million for the Title X Family Planning Program, an increase of $113.5 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$119 million for public health efforts for safe motherhood, an increase $56 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$400 million for Rural Health programs, including an increase of $5 million for the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) program
$42 million for the Office on Women’s Health, an increase of $7 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$3.1 billion increase for early childhood programs over the FY 2021 enacted levels:
Provides $7.4 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, an increase of $1.5 billion over the FY 2021 enacted level
Provides $12.2 billion for Head Start, an increase of $1.4 billion over the FY 2021 enacted level
Provides $450 million for Preschool Development Grants, an increase of $175 million over the FY 2021 enacted level
$551 million for Home and Community-Based Supportive Services, an increase of $158 million above the FY 2021 level
$463 million for Family Violence and Prevention Services Act (FVPSA) programs, an increase of $281 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$266 million for Family and Native American Caregivers Services, an increase of $66 million above the FY 2021 level
$257 million for Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) programs, an increase of $71 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$26 million for the Domestic Violence Hotline, an increase of $13 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$130 million for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, an increase of $29 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$49 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an increase of $6.5 billion above the FY 2021 enacted level, which includes
An increase of $30 million for the Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative, to support research on maternal morbidity and mortality
$61 million for the Office of Research on Women’s Health, an increase of $18 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
An increase of $16 million to strengthen the Office of the CIO for Scientific Workforce Diversity
Includes language directing HHS to increase inclusion of pregnant and lactating women in clinical trials, and directs NIH to improve participation of women and people of color in clinical trials
Department of Agriculture
$105.7 billion for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), including $3 billion for the SNAP reserve fund, to serve more than 45 million people
$6 billion for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), including $834 million to increase the amounts of fruits and vegetables in the WIC Food Package, to serve an estimated 6.4 million women, infants, and children in FY 2022
$26.9 billion in funding for child nutrition programs, an increase of $1.774 billion above the FY 2021 enacted level, to support more than 5.2 million school lunches and snacks
$45 million for the Summer EBT program, $35 million for school kitchen equipment grants, and $10 million for school breakfast expansion grants
Includes language directing FDA to review in-person dispensing requirements for abortion medication and to update its Birth Control guide
Department of Education
$65.6 billion for K-12 Education, including Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs, an increase of $25 billion over the FY 2021 enacted level
$95 million for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School, an increase of $40 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$5 million for Menstrual Products programs to support students and provide free menstrual products on college campuses
$1.4 billion for Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers, an increase of $100 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
Department of Labor
$25 million for the Women’s Bureau, an increase of $10 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
This includes no less than $6.8 million for the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program, a $5 million increase above the FY 2021 enacted level
$2.1 billion for Worker Protection Agencies, an increase of $305 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$300 million for Wage and Hour Division, a $54 million increase over FY 2021 enacted level, and language directing wage theft investigations to prioritize domestic workers and other professions dominated by women and where workers disproportionately face wage theft and abuse
$323.8 million for Entrepreneurial Development programs, an increase of $51.8 million above the current level, including $26 million for Women’s Business Centers
$213 million for child development center projects to support increased child care capacity and better facilities for the 1.2 million children of active duty servicemembers worldwide
$1.423 billion for Family Housing, an increase of $87 million above the 2021 enacted level, including $116.2 million to address issues such as mold, vermin, and lead in military family housing
Department of Veterans Affairs
$778.5 million for gender-specific care services for women, an increase of $117.8 million above the FY 2021 enacted level. Women are the fastest growing cohort within the Veteran community, with nearly 561,000 women Veterans using VA health services
Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development
Expands housing choice vouchers to more than 125,000 low-income individuals and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including survivors of domestic violence and veterans
Includes language from the EMPOWER Act to ensure no federal contracts go to private companies that force workers to sign nondisclosure agreements, which often silence women who have faced harassment or discrimination
Global Health, Family Planning & UNFPA
$760 million for family planning, an increase of $185 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$70 million for UNFPA, an increase of $37.5 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$4.56 billion for programs to improve maternal and child health, and fight infectious diseases, $1.3 billion above the FY 2021 enacted level
$6.08 billion for President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), including $1.56 billion for the Global Fund, $150 million more than the FY 2021 enacted level
Global Gender Equality
$950 million for basic education, and requiring that not less than $150 million be spent on girl’s education in areas of conflict
$200 million for the Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund
$150 million to support the Women, Peace and Security Strategy
$50 million to support women’s leadership
$10 million for the Office of Global Women's Issues
$10 million for the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues
$10 million for UN Women
Violence Against Women & Girls Globally
$200 million to prevent and respond to gender-based violence
$60 million to protect women and girls in Afghanistan
$30 million to address sexual and gender-based violence in the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras)
$20 million for programs combatting child marriage
$17 million to address women at risk of violent extremism
$1.5 million for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women
Human Rights of All People
$15 million for the Global Equality Fund, an increase of $5 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$10 million for the Protection of LGBTQI+ Persons, USAID, an increase of $4 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$500,000 for the Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons
Congress
$3 million for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, $1.5 million above the FY 2021 enacted level
$8 million for the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, an increase of $500,000 above the FY 2021 enacted level, so the Office can enforce laws against discrimination and sexual harassment
$1,481,000 for Office of Employee Advocacy, level with FY 2021 funding
