Partisan bickering delayed Zika funding for months. With coronavirus, experts worry history will repeat itself
WASHINGTON — Public health experts have a warning for Congress: don’t treat emergency coronavirus aid like business as usual.
Partisan bickering has often frustrated lawmakers’ attempts to speedily approve emergency spending packages. Congress, for example, dawdled for seven months because of an acrimonious fight over funding for Zika in 2016. That left health departments around the country cash-strapped and forced to cut back on existing public health programs, like responding to STD outbreaks. The long delay left the federal government no choice but to plunder funds meant for cancer research, heart disease, and fighting HIV to pay for their response efforts.
