Appropriations Bill Includes Strong Spending Levels for Many Local Health Department Priorities

NACCHO thanks the House of Representatives for passing a FY2020 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) funding bill that includes strong spending levels for many local health department priorities. They include a total of $8.3 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and strong top-line funding levels for other federal agencies that help support public health activities through local health departments.

“The House Appropriations Committee sent a strong message today that they are not only supportive of public health, but willing to put the dollars needed into the system,” said Adriane Casalotti, NACCHO Chief of Government and Public Affairs. “These federal investments are key to supporting the work of local health departments to prepare for, identify, prevent, and respond to public health issues. These funds are critical to enable local health departments to work each day to strengthen their communities across the country.”

H.R. 2740 includes the following:

• $700 million, an increase of $25 million, for public health emergency preparedness cooperative agreements, which provide every state, eight territories, and four directly funded cities with funding to foster all-hazards emergency
• $650 million, an increase of $39 million, for the Section 317 Immunization
• $100 million for the first year of a multi-year effort to support modernization of public health data surveillance and analytics at CDC, state and local health departments, and the National Center for Health
• $56 million, an increase of $5 million, in public health workforce initiatives to address workforce

NACCHO urges the Senate to also include robust funding to protect the public’s health in its FY2020 LHHS appropriations bill. The association also urges Congress and the White House to reach a budget deal to raise the caps on discretionary spending without delay in order to make increased funding for these public health priorities a reality.