House to vote on emergency Zika package

by Sarah Ferris - 05/13/16 12:04 PM ET

House GOP leaders are planning a vote as early as next week on an emergency funding package to fight the Zika virus.

The amount will be lower than the $1.1 billion package being advanced next week in the Senate, House Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Hing said Friday. That bipartisan package will receive a vote next week as part of the Senate’s joint transportation and military construction spending bill.

{mosads}The total cost of the bill is still under discussion, but it will be offset in full, Hing said. Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), who has led negotiations on the package, hopes to set up a vote on a standalone bill sometime next week, she added.

The funding package, which has yet to be officially unveiled, will end months of bitter debate with the White House over how much money is needed.

The Appropriation Committee’s package is certain to draw fire from House Democrats, who held a special hearing Thursday in which they demanded the full $1.9 billion that was requested in February by the Obama administration.

The House Appropriations Committee has argued the president’s funding request was too high and the money would be used for other purposes.

The House GOP had initially said any kind of emergency funding was unnecessary, but it has come under pressure recently from Republican lawmakers and governors in states likely to be hit by the virus.

Tags Zika virus