WASHINGTON — House and Senate Republicans have reached agreement among themselves on a $1.1 billion measure to combat the Zika virus, but the measure drew immediate opposition from Democrats who signaled they would scuttle it over its spending cuts and “poison pills.”
The measure — and the looming partisan battle over it — comes as a deadline to pass the Zika funding into law is beginning to run out.
An infection by the Zika virus can cause grave birth defects. The $1.1 billion figure is the amount the Senate approved last month. The measure calls for $750 million in spending cuts to offset the funding for Zika efforts, including $543 million in unused funds from implementation of President Barack Obama’s health care law and $107 million in cuts to leftover Ebola funding.
The Senate measure did not contain offsetting spending cuts and treated the Zika crisis as an official “emergency” like recent funding to battle Ebola and forest fires. It is being paired with a measure funding the Department of Veterans Affairs.
