Congress has begun consideration of the FY2019 appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS). This is the largest ($1.0 trillion in FY2018) of the 12 annual appropriations bills, when accounting for both mandatory and discretionary funding. The House and Senate appropriations committees have each reported their respective versions of the FY2019 LHHS bill (H.R. 6470 and S. 3158), but neither bill has received floor consideration as of the date of this report.

Scope of the Bill

The LHHS bill provides annually appropriated budget authority for the Department of Labor (DOL), the majority of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (except for the Food and Drug Administration, the Indian Health Service, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which are funded in other bills), the Department of Education, and more than a dozen related agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA).

Discretionary appropriations account for about 19% of total funds in the LHHS bill, yet this bill is typically the largest single source of nondefense discretionary funding for the federal government. In general, mandatory funding represents about 81% of the total LHHS bill, supporting annually appropriated entitlements such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income. Discretionary spending programs tend to receive the most attention during the appropriations process because this process controls amounts provided to these programs; the authorizing process generally controls amounts needed for mandatory spending programs.

FY2019 Congressional Action on LHHS

The House Appropriations Committee's LHHS subcommittee approved its draft bill on June 15. The full committee markup was held on July 11, and the bill was ordered to be reported that same day (30-22). The bill was subsequently reported to the House on July 23 (H.R. 6470). The committee report H.Rept. 115-862) includes a detailed table summarizing the funding provided in the bill and reserved in report language.

The Senate Appropriations Committee's LHHS subcommittee approved its draft bill on June 26. The full committee markup was held on June 28. The committee approved the bill (30-1) and reported the bill that same day (S. 3158). The committee report (S.Rept. 115-289) includes a detailed table summarizing the funding provided in the bill and reserved in report language.

Table 1 compares FY2019 LHHS discretionary appropriations proposed by the House and Senate committee bills to FY2018 enacted levels. All the amounts in this table are drawn from Congressional Budget Office estimates and represent current-year budget authority subject to discretionary spending limits. The table displays regular appropriations as well as a funding total that includes the upward adjustments to the spending limits that are allowed under the Budget Control Act ("adjusted appropriations"). (In the case of the LHHS bill, these adjustments may occur for "Program Integrity" and "Emergency Requirements" funding.)

Relative to FY2018, discretionary LHHS appropriations (excluding funds provided as an emergency requirement) would be relatively flat under the FY2019 House committee bill (+$5 million). The FY2019 Senate committee bill, meanwhile, would increase regular discretionary LHHS appropriations by roughly $2 billion (+1%).

Additional Resources

For more information on the status of FY2019 appropriations as a whole, see the CRS Appropriations Status Table. Reports addressing key funding questions for the programs and agencies funded by the LHHS appropriations bill are available on the CRS website.