Compromise on Zika funding worth support

ZIKA COMPROMISE DESERVES VOTE: Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri deserve credit for their bipartisan spending agreement last week to start limiting the looming health threat posed by the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

Zika, which first drew notice in Brazil and has landed on our shores through infected travelers, can cause microcephaly, a severe birth defect for those born to infected mothers.

Murray and Blunt announced their plan Thursday to provide $1.1 billion of the $1.9 billion sought by President Barack Obama. The agreement could be voted on as soon as Tuesday as an amendment to a Senate bill that pays for veterans and transportation programs.

Its fate in the House is less certain, but it’s encouraging to see that Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Camas has expressed support even for the administration’s larger investment.

Zika, as Herrera Beutler noted in a column she wrote for The Hill newspaper, is linked to microcephaly, which she said can cost more than $10 million per patient.

The Associated Press reported that one-third of the Murray-Blunt proposal’s money would go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This would pay for mosquito control and rapid response teams. Another $200 million for the National Institutes of Health would be used for vaccine research and other work; $248 million would be spent to fight the virus overseas.

All of that is better than no action.

FLOW ON, TIVOLI? Ongoing mechanical troubles have kept the Tivoli Fountain from operating reliably on the Capitol Campus in recent years. But the water feature is expected to jet skyward for about three hours Monday morning (May 16) to allow inspections and repair recommendations by a consultant. Then it will shut down for the year.

The fountain is a pleasing sight for passersby along Capitol Way, but has had been troubled by leaks. It was dedicated in 1953 and donated to the state by the Olympia-Tumwater Foundation, according to the state Department of Enterprise Services, which manages the campus.

DES says the fountain is a Roman-style replica of one in Copenhagen’s Tivoli Park, which borrows from a similar fountain in Tivoli, Italy.

Despite several minor repairs to the fountain over the years, DES says major components such as piping are original equipment.

We can only hope the repair solutions recommended by Waterline Studios — of Dripping Springs, Texas, no less — are not too costly.

This story was originally published May 15, 2016 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Compromise on Zika funding worth support."