20 Democrats urge leaders to fully fund pandemic preparedness in new package

A group of 20 Democratic lawmakers is calling on their leadership to fully fund pandemic preparedness efforts in a coming $3.5 trillion package, amid concern about cutbacks.

The letter to leadership was led by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and was signed by lawmakers including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

“Without this critical funding, if another pandemic hit us tomorrow, we could be as ill-prepared as we were for COVID-19,” the letter states.

At issue is $30 billion that President Biden proposed to prepare for future pandemics as part of his American Jobs Plan. But Democrats in Congress are considering cutting that funding down to as little as $5 billion as they seek to fit a slew of priorities into a $3.5 trillion window for their coming package.

Backers, including many public health experts, are warning that it is incredibly short-sighted to cut back on pandemic preparedness funding in the middle of a pandemic.