The budget bill passed in the U.S. Senate Wednesday could advance childhood cancer research in New Hampshire.
A recent federal study says the Granite State had the nation's highest pediatric cancer rate from 2003 to 2014. Senator Jeanne Shaheen and others have called on federal health officials to do more to study the causes of that problem.
Now, Shaheen has tied the issue to the Senate's spending bill.
Her amendment would require more detailed reports and public outreach about states' pediatric cancer rates and cancer clusters.
The spending bill and Shaheen's amendment now head for a Congressional conference committee.