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Advocacy

In the current political and fiscal environment, it’s critical to
communicate to policymakers the value of epidemiology and applied
epidemiologists. The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
(CSTE) serves as your voice in the nation’s capital, advocating for funding
and policies that help improve your ability to do your work.

CSTE’s executive leadership kicked off the year’s advocacy activities by
traveling to Washington, D.C. to meet with policymakers on Capitol Hill
In the end, our efforts were mostly successful. Building on the increase
and in the administration to discuss our advocacy priorities, including
provided to CDC in the previous fiscal year, Congress provided CDC
funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and
a funding increase of $143 million in fiscal 2019 that translated into
within it, Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) grants, the public
increases for CSTE priorities across the board, including ELC grants. The
health workforce, and public health informatics. We also focused our
bill also established a $50 million infectious disease rapid response
attention on educating policymakers about our priorities related to
fund, where funds only become available for use in the event of a public
Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) reauthorization
health emergency. The Prevention and Public Health Fund also remains
specifically, public health emergency funding, student loan repayments
intact, with Congress once again providing about $52 million to states
for public health professionals, and data and IT infrastructure
for ELC and healthcare-associated infections (HAI).
modernization. Because of this outreach, our leaders were called upon
by policymakers in the following months to offer our feedback on draft
That said, funding for public health priorities in many cases are
PAHPA reauthorization legislation.
still below fiscal 2010 levels adjusted for inflation, and the PAHPA
reauthorization bill—which includes language to authorize loan
Throughout the year, we also joined like-minded partner organizations
repayments as we recommended—remains stalled in Congress despite
in advocating for myriad public health issues, e.g., antimicrobial
earlier versions passing both chambers before the authorization expired.
resistance, food safety and advanced molecular detection, tuberculosis,
Continued vigilance is required to ensure that lawmakers prioritize
environmental health, behavioral health, occupational health, injury
public health. CSTE will continue to advocate on your behalf on all fronts.
and violence prevention, chronic disease, and more, better, faster data.
We also worked to block harmful policies from taking effect, specifically,
Sincerely,
efforts to defund the Prevention and Public Health Fund that serves
as a critical source of funding for ELC grants for states and other CDC
programs.
Emily Holubowich
Senior Vice President, CRD Associates
CSTE Advocacy Liaison

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