GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS FEATURE inside the behtway T
here is no doubt that Congress will need to pass some form of additional funding measure to address COVID- related shortfalls before election day. Earlier this year, President Biden sent two supplemental packages (one was COVID related and the other was for additional aid to Ukraine) to the Hill for consideration and Congressional Leadership intended to pass the two packages together. Congress was unable to pass the two proposals together and de-coupled the initiatives. The Ukraine package was signed into law, and then attention shifted to another COVID funding measure for Congress to consider. To garner support for the supplemental, the President con- tinues to stress his concerns over the lack of funding and the fact that the White House may soon need to run its massive pandemic response program on a significantly reduced bud- get. Two months ago, the Administration released a 100-page roadmap on addressing COVID Funding and doubts continue over whether Congress is willing to continue to fund the ef- fort. On Capitol Hill, we continue to learn of a steady increase in uneasiness in the hallways of the Capitol and at the White House over whether the United States will be able to remain prepared to cope with potential future COVID surges without additional funding.
According to the CDC, COVID cases ticked upward through- out this spring’s BA.2 wave while hospitalization and death rates held steady, suggesting that vaccinations protect from severe disease. While a majority of U.S. citizens are fully vaccinated - and roughly half of those eligible for a booster dose have received at least one - public health experts re- main concerned that there might be more surges as variants emerge. Without proper funding, CDC and the Administration claim that they will have to weigh limiting access to the next generation of vaccines to only the highest-risk Americans — a rationing that would have been unthinkable just a year ago, when the White House touted the development and wide- spread availability of vaccines as the clearest way out of the pandemic.
Earlier this year, the Senate rejected the Biden administra-
tion’s initial ask of $22.5 billion for pandemic federal spend- ing earlier this year, and instead struck a $10 billion COVID deal that will cover some domestic therapeutics and vaccina- tions. Many states have been gearing up their own pandemic
by John Ariale, Husch Blackwell Strategies – OABA’s Government Relations Team by Government Officlal Name
COVID Supplemental Stalls, Gun Debate Heats Up and What to Expect from Congress Ahead
management plans but might not be able to fund the programs without more federal funds.
The longer the negotiations drag on, the more likely it is that the entire Senate's bipartisan $10 billion COVID funding deal will need to be totally renegotiated because some of the money set aside to pay for it has already been spent. The original agreement was presented in early April and today, most of the funding set aside to pay for the agreement have been spent. While the House recently announced that they would most likely wait for the Senate to act before taking up a proposal, Senate Democrats are messaging that they are not going to take the lead to figure out how to pay for the COVID aid package for a third time – hence part of the stalemate. Unfortunately, while many await some sign from the House of Representatives, that Chamber returned to Washington after a two-week recess for Memorial Day to jump into a heated and sometimes politically charged debate on gun reform. Despite the rhetoric from the White House on funding, GOP leaders are pushing for a return to pre-pandemic public health measures. Many Americans appear to be of a similar mindset, with 27 percent returning to their normal activities and 42 percent partially limiting them. Less than 15 percent of Americans report they never changed their activity levels. It’s also important to note that Democratic leaders have also eased up on pandemic safety messaging and campaigns. These conflicting priorities reflect the political realities on Capitol Hill as a result of the midterm elections. The goal for Democrats will be to construct messaging around COVID-19 that is cautiously optimistic, arguing that their approach heeds up-to-date science. The approach taken thus far by the majority will need to be defended, while gauging the mood and thinking of the electorate who increasingly sees the pan- demic as nearly over.
Republicans, hopeful to take the House in November, are likely to focus their COVID-19 narratives on criticisms of Democratic public health measures, including mask mandates. At the end of the day, it is likely that we will see some com- promise agreement on COVID funding come to the floor before the August recess. It is doubtful that the supplemental will reach the levels that the President requested, but we suspect that a $10-15 billion agreement will be reached before the August recess.
JULY 2022 | OABA ShowTime Magazine 19
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