State’s public health emergency preparedness in need of upgrade, House lawmaker says

Like all states, Minnesota received federal dollars to help weather the COVID-19 pandemic.

But that infusion of cash was unique, says Rep. John Huot (DFL-Rosemount), and the state cannot rely solely on federal money to deal with any future coronavirus outbreaks or other potential public health emergencies.

“Our current model for preparedness is not working and we need to upgrade it,” he said.

Huot sponsors HF4103, which would appropriate $9 million in fiscal year 2023 for distribution to local and tribal public health organizations for public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities.

The House Health Finance and Policy Committee laid the bill over Tuesday for possible omnibus bill inclusion. There is no Senate companion.

“This bill commits state funding to ensure — regardless of how the federal funding may fluctuate over time — that our local public health has a strong base of funding to do the important emergency preparedness and response work,” Huot said.

Potential public health emergencies are not limited to infectious disease outbreaks such as COVID-19, Huot said, but can include natural disasters and even acts of terrorism.

The $9 million appropriation would be ongoing and require the Department of Health to distribute the funds each year as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its 2018 report on public health emergency preparedness.

“Effectively responding to public health emergencies is critically important to the well-being of our communities and our economy,” said Christine Lees, disease prevention and control, and environmental health, supervisor for the Dakota County Public Health Department.

State, county, and municipal agencies have relied mostly on federal preparedness grants to fund their operations for many years, she said.

“However, our funding has been cut every year since 2005, which has decreased our infrastructure and ultimately did impact our ability to respond to this pandemic,” she said.