Pestworld Magazine Focusing on the Business of Pest Management
Zika disease concept as a virus risk symbol with a dangerous illness carrying mosquito forming text on human skin that represents the danger of transmitting infection through bug bites resulting in zika fever.
Congress adjourned for the July 4 recess without passing an emergency Zika funding package. On June 28, 2016, the Senate failed to pass the Zika funding package that passed the House of Representatives the previous week. As expected, the measure failed the procedural 60-vote cloture requirement (52-48). The $1.1 billion package was at the funding level previously approved by the Senate but contained offsets that Senate Democrats did not agree with. Specifically, Democrats opposed funding offsets that would prohibit funding to Planned Parenthood and limit funding to portions of Obamacare.
The Zika funding package passed the House of Representatives on June 23 at 3:00 a.m., amid an unprecedented Democratic sit-in. The $1.1 billion Zika funding package was approved by Senate and House Republican Conferees. Important components of the Zika funding package for the structural pest management industry include:
- $476,000,000 in funds will be made available directly to CDC through September 2017 to prevent, prepare for and respond to Zika virus and other vector-borne diseases (this will include mosquito control).
- Within 30 days of enacting into law, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services is required to detail plans on how the funds will be allocated and/or made available to those who need additional resources.
- Public-private partnerships are authorized with these funds.
- NPDES permits for mosquito control treatments are suspended for 180 days for those entities authorized/certified to perform mosquito treatments within their state.
