At the end of July, the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) funding bill. Funding amounts are still subject to change as negotiations continue.

Proposed funding levels in the Labor-HHS bill include:

Health Resources & Services Administration

  • Maternal Mental Health Hotline: $8 million
  • Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children: $20.833 million
  • Healthy Start: $145.25 million
  • Title V Maternal and Child Block Grant: $799.7 million
    • Special Projects of Regional and National Significance (SPRANS): $14 million

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  • Division of Reproductive Health, Safe Motherhood/Infant Health: $113.5 million
  • Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies (SET-NET): $23 million
  • Division of Oral Health: $5.25 million

The bill rejects the Administration’s proposal to eliminate, restructure, or consolidate CDC’s core programs by maintaining funding for FY26. These core programs include chronic disease prevention, tobacco control, injury, global health, and immunization.

Payment Management System (PMS)

In response to reported delays and issues with funds being paid out through the Payment Management System, Labor-HHS included language to improve grantees’ ability to access funds. The bill requires HHS to brief Congress within 30 days on the PMS’s status and any changes HHS has made to improve timely access to funds. The bill also requires HHS to promptly report outages longer than 48 hours or payment delays longer than 14 days.

Complete your gift to help keep families at the center of children’s health care

I'm ready
Not today

Our Vision

All children, youth, and families, especially those with special health care needs and disabilities, experience their best health and quality of life.

Our Mission

Family Voices is a family-led organization that transforms systems of care to work better for all children and youth, especially those with special health care needs or disabilities. By putting families at the forefront and centering their leadership and lived expertise, we build a culture that includes everyone and fosters equitable outcomes.

Donate by mail

To donate by mail, your check payable to Family Voices can be mailed to us at:
Family Voices
P.O. Box 3162
South Attleboro, MA 02730

In honor of
The Close the Gap campaign is funded by Dr. David Nichols and Mayme Boyd.
Visit familyvoices.org/closethegap to learn more.