On February 26, local health officials from across the country joined NACCHO on Capitol Hill for our annual Local Public Health on the Hill Day. Together, public health leaders from NACCHO’s Board of Directors, SACCHO and NALBOH leadership, and the Big Cities Health Coalition, met with members of Congress and senior staff from 128 Congressional offices. Participants spoke with elected officials from around the country, including Senator Marsha Blackburn (TN), Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY), Representative Brett Guthrie (KY), and Senator Patty Murray (WA).
During these meetings, participants discussed the important role of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in supporting the work of local health departments in communities across the country. They described CDC’s expertise and communication to ensure national awareness of public health threats, as well as how they can be a force multiplier for public health challenges on the ground. They demonstrated that a strong and well-funded CDC supports programs back home and emphasized that federal support for robust public health is vital to ensuring that communities and local economies thrive.
These local health leaders also shared stories of the issues that their departments are currently facing and the innovative solutions that they are harnessing to improve the health and well-being of the people that they serve. A common theme among the issues shared on the Hill was the difficulty that local health departments face when it comes to recruiting and retaining staff. Because of this, participants urged Congress to support NACCHO’s request for an annual appropriation of $100 million for the Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. This program, which offers loan repayment to public health professionals who agree to serve at least three years in a local, state, or tribal health department, has been made law through bipartisan legislation, but is still awaiting funding to operationalize the program. A fully funded loan repayment program could help alleviate the burden of staffing for local health departments by helping to recruit as many as 2,000 public health professionals across the country.
Participants also conveyed the need for the greatest possible funding for CDC’s Public Health Infrastructure and Capacity Program, asking Congress to support an annual appropriation of $1 billion for the program in FY2026. These funds would help local public health to invest in core capabilities, like workforce, health and information systems, public health policy and communications, and community partnership development, and would help shore up the ability of health departments to address all public health needs in the community. Finally, Hill Day participants asked Congress to support our report language to better ensure funds reach local health departments.
To increase the impact of Local Public Health on the Hill Day, NACCHO is inviting you to join us in sharing these key messages with your federal representatives.
You can find out more in our action alert here: Take Action - NACCHO.
Read more about our members’ experiences participating in Hill Day and why local public health advocacy is important.
Alan Melnick – Public Health Director, Clark County Public Health in Washington State
Why are events like Hill Day important for public health?
“This is a foundational public health service in terms of working with our elected officials, representative senators both at the local, state, and federal level. We need to be involved in policy. When we think about some of the core functions of public health; assessment, policy development, and insurance – working on policy is really essential. We need a strong public health policy at all levels of government. We also need funding. The public health system is underfunded and even with the state appropriation in Washington, we still need and depend on federal funding. The work that we do is key in terms of prevention and improving the health of the population. So, working on issues around funding and policy is really essential. We do that work because we live in a democracy through our elected officials whether they be our local boards of health, state health departments, and federal partners.”
Dr. Michelle Taylor – Division Director and Health Officer, Shelby County Health Department in Tennessee
What would you say to other local health departments to encourage them to get involved in advocacy outreach efforts?
“I would tell other local health departments that it is super important to get involved because our elected officials depend on us to tell them about all the important work that we are doing on the ground in their jurisdictions, states, local health departments, and across the country. Our elected officials need to hear from the people actually doing the work and we know that local health departments do the work every day to protect our air, water, families, and national security as it relates to public health. It depends on all of us to get involved and to tell those stories so that our elected officials know what they’re giving resources to and that ultimately every penny that they send to us is important because it means that we can promote and protect health.”
Jamie Bodden – Managing Director, Washington State Association of Local Public Health
What motivated you to participate in Hill Day?
“The importance of public health advocacy. Also being able to promote the work that local health jurisdictions do to our federal partners so that they understand where their dollars are going and the importance of funding local programs that serve the communities – whether that’s prenatal visits, home visiting programs, environmental health programs, or emergency preparedness and response. It’s really important to have that strong federal to local connection.”