The House Appropriations Committee has approved legislation that includes a $2 million cut to the Vision Health Initiative (VHI) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Next, both the entire House and the entire Senate would need to each pass their own separate versions of spending legislation. The Senate FY26 legislation also includes a $2 million cut to the VHI. Before becoming law, a conference of House and Senate legislators would need to resolve differences between each bill, pass the settled-upon spending legislation with votes in both the House and the Senate, and send the final approved bills to the President for signature.
If the bill becomes law, the program will be left with just $4.5 million in FY 2026 to conduct critical vision health data collection, operate the Vision and Eye Health Surveillance System (VEHSS), continue community-level interventions for glaucoma, and promote awareness of the serious connection between diabetes and diabetes-related blindness. The House appropriations legislation cut the overall funding to the CDC by $1.7 billion.
The House also rejected the Trump Administration’s proposed reorganization of the National Institutes of Health, which would have consolidated several institutes, including the National Eye Institute (NEI). Instead, it maintained level funding of $896 million for eye and vision research for FY 2026. Congress must agree on and pass final funding legislation before the September 30 end date of the federal fiscal year; however, legislators are considering options for a short-term extension on funding to avoid a government shutdown. It remains unclear when the process to approve final spending legislation will take place.
Prevent Blindness has a long legacy of promoting and advocating the work of the VHI and the VEHSS and we will continue working with champions for eye health in Congress to preserve funding for vision. We are deeply disappointed by the cut to the VHI as well as the significant cuts to our nation’s overall public health at a time when chronic diseases are on the rise and despite commitments from the Trump Administration to prioritize addressing chronic disease. Now more than ever, in an era of tough budget decisions, our advocacy, represented by collective voices across many stakeholders, is vital to protecting the resources available to the VHI.
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