Legislative Resources
Welcome to NACCHO's Legislative Resources page. Here, you will find all the tools and resources you need to better understand NACCHO's policy positions and activities in Washington.
In October 2018, NACCHO's Board of Directors approved the 2019 Federal Legislative and Policy Agenda:
Priority Issues Include:
- Continuation at authorized levels for the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
- Establishment of a Public Health Emergency Fund to allow immediate access to emergency funding when public health disasters or disease outbreaks occur.
- Passage and Implementation of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovations Act
- Policies that support infrastructure and local health department capacity to participate in health data exchange with health care and human service providers.
- Sufficient federal budget levels to address public health priorities, including sequestration relief with parity between defense and non-defense budget caps.
- Support for local health department involvement in implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including maintenance of core public health programs authorized and funded by the ACA and clinical and community preventive services supported by the ACA.
The Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) is a funding stream primarily dedicated to investments in core public health programs at state and local health departments. Since 2010, the PPHF has supported efforts to combat infectious disease, prevent lead poisoning, detect causes of diseases and injury, and address the leading causes of rising health care costs.
The PPHF is currently in jeopardy because of the proposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act. See below for resources about the PPHF NACCHO members can use to advocate for the continuation of the PPHF.
The 116th Congress will begin in 2019 following the 2018 mid-term elections. Please read the full list of health-related ballot measures that were passed.
NACCHO conducted a Post-2018 Midterm Election Webinar. You can view the slides to the Webinar and the Webinar recording.
Why Advocate?
A 2010 survey of congressional staff by the Congressional Management Foundation ranked various methods of communicating with members of Congress.
- Constituent visits to the Washington office (97%) and to the district/state office (94%) were found to have 'some' or 'a lot' of influence on an undecided Member, more than any other influence group or strategy.
- Nearly identical percentages of staffers said postal mail (90%) and e-mail (88%) would influence an undecided member of Congress. Personalized letters and e-mails (not form letters) remain one of the most influential methods of communicating with policymakers.
Getting involved in efforts to educate policymakers is time consuming, but has the potential to reward, in terms of influence and real dollars.
It is important that your voice be heard by your elected representatives in Congress for the following reasons:
- Your community can benefit from the support of a well-placed legislator. Legislation and administrative policies usually require a broad base of support in order to become enacted.
- Your professional training, experience in public health and position in the community affords you undeniable credibility.
- Every legislator is in favor of protecting the health of their family and residents of their community. They just don't know exactly what public health is or what it means.
- If you don't explain what your local health department does, nobody else will.
Contacting Policymakers
There are many well-recognized methods to inform legislators and establish yourself as an expert consultant on public health. It is critical to develop a relationship with legislators and their staff members well before a key vote. That way, when they need information quickly, they will contact you because they value your perspective on public health issues and see you as a trusted resource. Here are several activities with which to start building a relationship.
- Meet with your legislator(s) at home in your district. Each member of Congress has at least one office at home in their district or state, and may have more than one office. You can find contact information for the Washington office and district office(s) of your members of Congress at NACCHO's Congressional Directory. The Directory also includes a brief biography and a list of which committees each member of Congress sits on.
- Invite your member of Congress and their staff to visit your health department. NACCHO can help you prepare for their visit. Showing off the work you do firsthand is the best way to give policymakers insight into how you help keep their constituents healthy and safe. For example, members could be invited to participate in a screening or a clinic for flu shots or a public health fair. Work with the member''s office to provide press coverage. They will be more inclined to come visit if it is an opportunity to show how they are calling attention to issues in your community.
- Attend a town hall meeting or other public event with a member of Congress in attendance and speak about public health issues.
- Write to your legislator(s) to introduce yourself and the issues that concern you. You can write your own letter on a topic of concern. It is always best to personalize your letter with details about how the issue will affect people in your community. Local stories, people, and data will be most interesting and most persuasive to policymakers. Talk about people in the community who are affected, not the details of the programs or initiatives.
- Establish a friendly, helpful relationship with the staff that handle public health issues for your senators and congressional representatives. Follow up with staff periodically by e-mail to share local news of the work your health department is doing. Contact information for congressional offices at home and in Washington,DC, can be found here.
NACCHO has compiled an "Advocacy Toolkit" for members to utilize on their visits to their Members of Congress. Local health departments can use this template for a one-pager about a health department, and SACCHOs can use this template as a one-pager to outline their policies and priorities. NACCHO has developed training videos that can assist in messaging public health priorities to lawmakers
Local health department officials are encouraged to contact their Members of Congress to educate them on issues surrounding public health. When health officials educate, advocate, or lobby Members of Congress on public health issues they need to be informed as to what exactly defines advocating, educating, and when they are lobbying. NACCHO has developed a fact sheet to identify the differences between advocacy, education, and lobbying.
- Big changes are coming to Washington following the 2016 election. Here is our recap.
- Learn more about what the future holds for the Affordable Care Act.
- Here is a list of the public health ballot initiatives that passed and failed from the 2016 election.
- Recording of NACCHO's 2016 Post Election Webinar with Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck (11/28/16) | Slides from Post-Election Webinar