Sen. Capito on FY26 HHS and Education Bill: Prioritizing Children and Bipartisan Investments

Bipartisan Priorities in the FY26 HHS and Education Bill

• 🤝 The FY26 HHS and Education Bill is presented as a bipartisan effort, continuing a three-year collaboration between Senators Baldwin and Capito.
• 🎯 The bill allocates taxpayer resources to key bipartisan priorities, aiming for a lower level than fiscal year 2025, while maintaining appropriate agency staffing.
• 🚫 It includes long-standing riders and excludes any new controversial riders, focusing on consensus areas.

Investments in Biomedical Research

• 🔬 The bill provides an increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to prioritize medical and biomedical research.
• 💡 Specific research areas receiving targeted increases include Alzheimer's, diabetes, Parkinson's, women's health, maternal health, rare diseases, and childhood cancer.
• 🌍 The NIH IDEA program is maintained, supporting states with historically lower NIH funding, such as West Virginia.

Combating Substance Abuse and Supporting Health Workforce

• ⚠️ The bill builds on efforts to combat substance abuse by providing resources for addiction treatment, prevention, research, and recovery programs.
• 🩺 It allocates resources to support the health workforce, addressing shortages in nurses, geriatric providers, and professionals for addiction crisis response.

Prioritizing Children and Workforce Development

• 👶 The labor HH bill prioritizes children from early childhood through post-secondary education, ensuring students are prepared for current and future jobs.
• 🚀 It makes critical investments in the workforce, including funding for apprenticeship grants to support the administration's goal of creating 1 million active apprenticeships.
• ⚖️ The bill maintains funding to support workers' rights and workplace safety.

Acknowledging Staff Contributions

• 👏 Senator Capito expressed gratitude to the numerous staff members from her office, Senator Baldwin's staff, and the full committee staff for their hard work in developing the bill.