After months of back and forth, Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement to spend $1.1 billion in the fight against the spread of the Zika virus. The bill includes $933 million for domestic efforts through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) broken down as:

• $394 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat mosquito populations and more;
• $397 million to develop vaccines and diagnostic tests at the National Institutes of Health and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority;
• $75 million to reimburse health care provided to those without private health insurance in states and territories with active Zika transmission.

The legislation also provides $175 million for international efforts through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development.

Passage of the bill ends a months-long struggle over Democratic objections to language rolling back environmental protections for pesticide use and Republican insistence that spending included in the bill be offset by cuts elsewhere. In the end, Republicans agreed to remove the language on pesticide use and Democrats agreed to offset $285 million of the spending through a number of mechanisms, including returning to the treasury $117 million provided in 2014 to combat the Ebola virus and another $168 million in unused accounts provided as part of the Affordable Care Act for U.S. territories to set up health exchanges.

But Democrats most frequent complaint centered on Republican-backed language they claimed would severely limit access to contraceptives in Puerto Rico. A $95 million allocation for Social Services Block Grants, mostly designated for use in Puerto Rico, would have excluded family planning services that focus on contraception, including the territory's Planned Parenthood affiliate, Profamilias. The language was not included in the final legislation.

Takeaway: The inclusion of $1.1 billion in spending to combat the spread of the Zika virus in the CR marks the conclusion of nearly a full year of negotiations over the issue. Congress will continue to deliberate about additional public health emergency response funds over the coming months, such as the $300 million fund included in the FY17 Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill.