POLICY: PANDEMIC AND ALL HAZARDS PREPAREDNESS ACT REAUTHORIZATION (ACTION POLICY)
COMMITTTEE: HEALTH
TYPE:
NCSL supports the reauthorization of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. State legislators are committed to enhancing their states’ ability to prepare for and respond to these events. A strong partnership between and among the states, the federal government, and other public and private non-profit entities is the best way to accomplish this goal. NCSL urges Congress to:
- Provide states, territories, and the District of Columbia with direct, sufficient and stable funding to enable them to continue to build and maintain an infrastructure to support on-going efforts to respond to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies;
- Pass federal funds through the states for distribution to local governments, hospitals and other entities, permitting state officials to take the lead in planning on a regional and statewide basis, utilizing federal funds in the most efficient and effective way;
- Require grantees that receive direct funding from the federal government to collaborate with the state and to coordinate all of their activities with the state plan;
- Afford states the flexibility necessary to meet their diverse needs and priorities;
- Build upon existing national and state efforts;
- Ensure that regulations and requirements imposed on states are accompanied by sufficient funding to support implementation, both immediately and in the long term; and
- Authorize the appropriate federal official to temporarily waive or modify the application of federal laws that may impede implementation of state plans during a bioterrorist attack or other public health emergency.
NCSL strongly supports the following provision in the reauthorization bill currently pending before Congress:
Development of a National Health Security Strategy - NCSL supports the requirement to develop a National Health Security Strategy by 2009. NCSL especially supports the directive to include a national strategy for establishing an effective and prepared public health workforce and looks forward to working with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as these strategies are developed.
Increasing the Number of Public Health Workers - NCSL strongly supports provisions in the reauthorization that would: (1) establish under the National Health Services Corps, a loan forgiveness demonstration program for health care workers who agree to work in public health departments that serve areas at risk of a public health emergency; and (2) provide grants to states to develop and run loan forgiveness programs targeted specifically to individuals who agree to serve in state, local, or tribal health departments that serve health professional shortage areas or other areas at risk of a public health emergency.
Using Information Technology to Improve Situational Awareness in Public Health Emergencies - NCSL supports provisions that require the HHS Secretary to in collaboration with state, local and tribal governments to establish a new real-time electronic nationwide public health situational awareness capability through an interoperable network of systems to share data and information to enhance early detection of, rapid response to, and management of public health emergencies that originate domestically or abroad. NCSL is particularly supportive of the requirement that the network be built on existing state systems or systems that enable connectivity. NCSL also supports the grant program designed to assist states establish and operate a coordinated public health situational awareness system.
NCSL has serious concerns about the following provisions:
Achieving Evidence-Based Benchmarks and Objective Standards - While NCSL supports the development of evidence-based benchmarks and objective standards for public health preparedness and looks forward to participating in their development. NCSL is concerned about the provision that would impose substantial penalties on states for failure to meet certain benchmarks and standards. If the penalty provision is retained, NCSL supports provisions that would: (1) require the HHS Secretary to notify the state regarding noncompliance and to provide the state an opportunity to correct the noncompliance without penalty; (2) require the Secretary to make technical assistance available to states that need assistance to comply with the benchmarks and standards; and (3) permit the HHS Secretary to waive or reduce the penalty when mitigating conditions exist.
State Matching and Maintenance of Effort Requirements - NCSL does not support the imposition of a state matching requirement on this program or a maintenance of effort requirement that requires the states, but not the federal government to maintain its effort. It causes great concern when a state’s ability to address a national public health disaster may be dependent upon the state’s fiscal health at the time. The maintenance of effort requirement, based on an average of the previous two years expenditures, would not take into account reduced federal expenditures in the program year. NCSL urges Congress to not include these provisions in the final Act.
July 2007
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