U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Calls For Swift Passage of Bipartisan Coronavirus Funding Package

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), called for swift passage of a bipartisan emergency supplemental funding agreement to respond to the novel coronavirus.

Baldwin announced that with passage of the funding package, Wisconsin will be eligible for a minimum of $10.2 million in additional grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the ability to apply for more funding. This funding would come in addition to $1 million of immediate assistance that was provided to Wisconsin today by CDC.

“I have worked in a bipartisan way to make sure the federal government steps up and takes action to be a strong partner to state and local health officials. We must work together to keep families in Wisconsin and across the country safe and this emergency funding will help us do that,” said Senator Baldwin. “In order to effectively combat the novel coronavirus, we must make sure state and local officials have the resources they need to address this public health crisis. We need to pass this legislation now so Wisconsin can scale up our response and protect public health.”

The $7.8 billion package, plus a $500 million authorization to enhance telehealth services, will provide nearly $1 billion directly to state, local and tribal governments to support surveillance, testing, infection control and other public health preparedness and response activities. The bill includes provisions Senator Baldwin pushed for, including over $3 billion for research, development, and review of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics which promotes Buy America policies by prioritizing platform-based technologies with U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities. In addition, the bipartisan legislation requires that vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics developed using taxpayer funds be available for purchase by the federal government at a fair and reasonable price. It also allows the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics developed using taxpayer funds be affordable in the commercial market.