WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) called for increased mosquito abatement funding to support local, state, and national efforts to contain the spread of the Zika virus. In his letter, Senator King emphasized that unless Congress deals with the Zika crisis head on by allocating additional funding, public health responders in Maine will continue to lose Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) funding, which is currently being reallocated by the Administration to fight Zika.

“Although Maine has a low likelihood of having to respond to Zika this summer, Maine has lost nearly $200,000 for its public health responders, as the administration has had to designate this funding for regions where Zika is most likely to appear. This is a neither fair nor prudent approach to the problem,” wrote Senator King in the letter. “We face many fiscal challenges, even without the occurrence of emergencies and threats to the public good. As you consider the supplemental funding request to address the Zika virus emergency, I ask you to include specific additional funding for mosquito surveillance, control, and abatement activities at the state and local level.”

The Public Health Emergency Preparedness program (PHEP) helps public health departments across the country respond to a range of public health threats, including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and biological, chemical, nuclear, and radiological events. Because Congress has not yet acted on Zika funding, the White House and Department of Health and Human Services have reallocated general PHEP grants to Zika-specific activities. As a result, states like Maine with a low likelihood of responding to a Zika incident have seen some of their PHEP funding be diverted elsewhere. Maine’s public health responders have already lost nearly $200,000.

In his letter, Senator King called for an increase in funding for mosquito control as a more prudent and fair way of addressing the problem, rather than shifting general emergency preparedness funds. More specifically, Senator King called for:

• $130 million for mosquito control activities, to be awarded as matching grants to state and local governments.
• $44 million for Department of Health and Human Services’ PHEP grants and cooperative agreements program in order to backfill amounts the administration has cut from this program to deal with the Zika emergency.
• $35 million for the Enhanced Laboratory Capacity program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to enhance local laboratory and surveillance capacity. The CDC has also had funds redirected to assist in the Zika emergency.
• $12 million for the Department of Agriculture’s IR4 Public Health Pesticide registration program to collect data on environmental safety and health data for compounds already authorized and registered for use, to ensure that they remain on the market and usable.

The complete text of Senator King’s letter to the Appropriations Committee is available HERE and can be read below:

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April 27, 2016

The Honorable Thad Cochran                                     The Honorable Barbara Mikulski

Chairman                                                                     Vice Chairwoman

U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee                     U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee

Washington DC 20510                                               Washington DC 20510

Dear Chairman Cochran and Vice Chairwoman Mikulski:

I greatly appreciate the thoughtful and difficult work that you have been doing to balance the present and future spending needs of the country with the resources necessary to address the Zika virus emergency. We face many fiscal challenges, even without the occurrence of emergencies and threats to the public good. As you consider the supplemental funding request to address the Zika virus emergency, I ask you to include specific additional funding for mosquito surveillance, control, and abatement activities at the state and local level.

Vector control—whether pesticide-based or new innovations in creating sterile male mosquitoes—must be an integral portion of our immediate strategy to fight the mosquitoes that spread dangerous diseases like Zika (as well as dengue fever, eastern equine encephalitis, and West Nile disease). Within the United States, mosquito control has traditionally been the activity of state, county, and city governments; special districts; and non-governmental entities like homeowners’ associations. While the President’s supplemental request includes funds that may be used for mosquito control, there is no guarantee that those funds would be used as such.

The Washington Post has reported that when the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) redirected funds to address the Zika crisis, they also moved $44 million from the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program (PHEP). PHEP helps public health departments across the country respond to a range of public health threats, including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and biological, chemical, nuclear, and radiological events. Because Congress has not yet acted, funds have been allocated away from general PHEP grants to Zika-specific activities. Although Maine has a low likelihood of having to respond to Zika this summer, Maine has lost nearly $200,000 for its public health responders, as the administration has had to designate this funding for regions where Zika is most likely to appear. This is a neither fair nor prudent approach to the problem.

I request the following specific amounts be appropriated for the fiscal year 2016:

• $130 million for mosquito control activities, to be awarded as matching grants to state and local governments. We must make it clear that these may be for more traditional pesticide vector control methods or for research and testing of new technologies using irradiated or genetically modified sterile mosquitoes.
• $44 million for HHS’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) grants and cooperative agreements program. This would backfill amounts the administration has cut from this program to deal with the Zika emergency.
• $35 million for the Enhanced Laboratory Capacity program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has also had funds redirected to assist in the Zika emergency, to enhance local laboratory and surveillance capacity.
• $12 million for the Department of Agriculture’s IR4 Public Health Pesticide registration program. This will collect data on  environmental safety and health data for compounds already authorized and registered for use, to ensure that they remain on the market and usable.

Thank you for your timely consideration of this request.

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