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The House Appropriations Committee yesterday voted 30-21 to approve  that would provide $153 billion in discretionary funding for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies in fiscal year 2016, $3.7 billion less than this year. Among other provisions, the bill would terminate the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and rescind funding for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation. AHA had urged the committee to reject both provisions, and more than 140 other , including the AHA’s American Organization of Nurse Executives subsidiary, had urged the committee not to terminate AHRQ. The bill would provide $71.3 billion for HHS programs, an increase of $298 million from FY 2015. Funding levels include more than $6 billion for the Health Resources and Services Administration, with $265 million for the Children’s Hospital Graduate Medical Education Program and $102 million for the Healthy Start program, the same as this year. Other provisions include $7 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a $140 million increase; $31.2 billion for the National Institutes of Health, a $1.1 billion increase; and $3.6 billion for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a $23 million increase. The bill is likely to go to the House floor next month.