House Appropriations approves the FY2027 Labor-HHS bill 34-28 — with no Community Health Center Fund extension, the Dec 31 cliff now rides on a bill that doesn't exist yet

The House Appropriations Committee approved the FY2027 Labor-HHS-Education bill on June 9, 2026 on a party-line 34-28 vote, funding HHS roughly 4% below FY2026. The structural point for health centers: appropriations only carry the ~$1.9B discretionary slice of Health Center Program funding — the mandatory Community Health Center Fund (~$4.6B/yr, ~70% of federal CHC money) expires December 31, 2026 and requires separate reauthorizing legislation from Energy & Commerce / Senate HELP, where no bill has been introduced.

The party-line vote also signals FY2027 appropriations won't pass by October 1, making another continuing resolution near-certain — a CR holds discretionary funding flat but does nothing for the mandatory cliff. NACHC's 288-House/57-Senate sign-on letters remain the only vehicle-in-waiting; the realistic path is a year-end package, which means health center boards should plan Q1-2027 cash positions assuming the cliff resolves late, retroactively, or partially.