Biden budget would give CDC its biggest funding boost in nearly 20 years

President Joe Biden‘s first budget proposal would give the largest funding boost in nearly two decades to the agency most closely tracking the coronavirus pandemic, his administration said Friday.

The budget blueprint for fiscal year 2022 would include $8.7 billion in discretionary funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to budget documents shared by the Office of Management and Budget.

The agency said that budget bump would build on the CDC investments doled out in the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion Covid relief plan that Biden signed into law in March.

The new funding would be used to “support core public health capacity improvements in States and Territories, modernize public health data collection nationwide, train new epidemiologists and other public health experts, and rebuild international capacity to detect, prepare for, and respond to emerging global threats,” the OMB said.

But the budget proposal would go beyond funding the agency’s disease-focused work.

The budget materials say $153 million would be allocated for the CDC’s Social Determinants of Health program to work on “improving health equity and data collection for racial and ethnic populations.”

The government would also provide $100 million for the CDC’s Climate and Health program as part of a $1.2 billion investment in strengthening resilience to wildfires, floods, droughts and other climate-related disasters.

The budget request for the Health and Human Services Department would double or firearm violence prevention research at the CDC and the National Institutes of Health

Overall, HHS is requesting $133.7 billion in discretionary funding — a $25.3 billion, or 23.4%, bump from the enacted budget of fiscal year 2021.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.