The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies on Tuesday approved by a voice vote the fiscal year 2006 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill (HR 3010), including a $10 million increase over fiscal year 2005 levels for Ryan White CARE Act programs, CQ HealthBeat reports. The CARE Act appropriation amount included in the Senate version of the bill is equivalent to the amount allocated in the House version, which was approved last month, and in President Bush's budget request released in February (CQ HealthBeat, 7/12). Bush's FY 2006 budget proposal requested nearly $2.1 billion for Ryan White funding, maintaining FY 2005 funding levels plus $10 million increase in federal funding for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs nationwide (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/8). AIDS advocates are pushing for an amendment to be introduced on the Senate floor that would further increase spending for the Ryan White programs (CQ HealthBeat, 7/12). The AIDS Institute Director of Federal Affairs Carl Schmid has said ADAP needs an increase of $300 million in FY 2006 to "make the program whole," but the goal is to get Congress to add at least $100 million to the $787.5 million ADAP currently receives. HHS spokesperson Christina Pearson said the administration's funding requests for HIV/AIDS programs are "substantial," adding that the administration has made "an unprecedented effort" in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the United States and internationally (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/12).

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