S. 5499 — STOP TICKS Act

This section expands the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group’s review from efforts within the Department of Health and Human Services to all efforts across the Federal Government. It increases federal agency representatives on the working group to 13 (from 7), adding the Agricultural Research Service, Forest Service, National Park Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Defense Health Agency. It also increases non-federal members to 10 (from 7) and resets the deadline for the working group’s summary to two years after enactment of the STOP TICKS Act.

This section increases the authorization of appropriations for the national strategy and regional centers of excellence in vector-borne diseases to $12 million annually (from $10 million) for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 (from fiscal years 2021 through 2025).

This section increases the annual authorization of appropriations for cooperative agreements with State, local, and Tribal health departments in high-risk areas to $21,000,000 (from $20,000,000) for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. The agreements support expanded capacity to identify, report, prevent, and respond to vector-borne diseases and related outbreaks.