NYSPHA Current Federal Policy and Advocacy Actions and Alerts

8/8/2023 – NYSPHA signed on to a letter by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), a UN human rights body, containing comments on their draft general recommendation on racism and the right to health. This incorporates tobacco control the work of CERD and a way to hold countries accountable for tobacco control through human rights mechanisms. Click here to read the letter.

8/8/2023 – NYSPHA signed on to a letter sponsored by APHA and other national and state health orgs to the US EPA in support of its proposed rule to cut carbon emissions from the power sector and also urging EPA to strengthen certain parts of the rule and to ensure that communities located nearest to the power plants are not negatively impacted with increased air pollution as the result of any final rule. Click here to read the letter.

 6/15/2023 – NYSPHA signed on to a partner letter coordinated by the Alliance for a Green Economy, along with community and environmental organizations submitting comments on National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation’s (“National Fuel” or “the Company”) revised long-term plan. Click <here> to read the letter.

6/13/23 – NYSPHA signed on to a letter to Congress in support of the Endorse the OH SNAP Close the Fruit and Vegetable Gap Act (GusNIP funding increase bill).  GusNIP is a key program in the Farm Bill that tackles nutrition insecurity amongst low-income people by providing incentives for purchasing fruit and vegetables. It leads to higher fruit and vegetable consumption, leading to better health outcomes for participants. It also boosts local economies by providing markets for  fruit and vegetable growers.  Click <here> for more information.

6/12/2023 - NYSPHA signed on to a letter sponsored by the Trust For America’s Health in support of a bill in Congress that would create a Core Public Health Infrastructure Program at CDC to help modernize public health at every level to ensure every American is served by a 21st century health department. Click <here> to see a fact sheet on the bill. 

5/18/23 – NYSPHA signed on to a letter to Congress urging responsible budgeting and debt policies to reject efforts to take away assistance from people with low incomes or impose administrative barriers that make it harder for people to access needed assistance.  

04/19/2023 – NYSPHA signed on to a letter to the Congressional appropriations leadership urging the inclusion in the FY2024 budget of $35 million for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), $25 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and $1 million for the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to conduct public health research into firearm morbidity and mortality prevention. Click <here> to read the letter.

04/13/23 – NYSPHA signed on to a letter to the Congressional Appropriations committees supporting the CDC’s Social Determinants of Health program in the FY24 appropriations process.  Click <here> to read the letter. 

03/24/23 – NYSPHA signed on to a letter to the Congressional appropriations leadership urging that they appropriate at least $340 million for the Data Modernization Initiative (DMI) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. Funding for DMI will also make possible the critical work of the CDC’s newly established Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA). Click <here> to read the letter. 

03/22/2023 – NYSPHA signed on to a letter by the CDC Coalition to the Congressional appropriations leadership urging the inclusion at least $11.581 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s programs in the FY 2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill. Click <here> to read the letter.   

03/20/23: NYSPHA signed on to the CDC Coalition’s FY 2024 appropriations letter to U.S. House and Senate Labor-HHS-Education appropriations subcommittee leaders in support of $11.581 billion for CDC.  Click <here> to read the letter. 

02/13/23: NYSPHA signed on to a letter to U.S. ERA Administrator Regan in support of proposed regulations to limit pollution from oil and gas operations that are necessary to mitigate the immediate and long-term health risks resulting from the extraction, transportation and storage of oil and gas.  Click <here> to read the letter. 

11/11/2022:   NYSPHA signed on to a letter by APHA and the CDC Coalition urging the Congressional leadership to include at least $10.45 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s programs in any final FY 2023 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill.  Click <here> to read the letter.

9/21/2022: NYSPHA signed on to a letter to U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Rohit Chopra urge that CFPB begin the process of issuing a rule that would prohibit medical debts from appearing on credit reports if the debts arose from medically necessary services.  Click <here> to read the letter. 

9/20/2022:  NYSPHA signed on to a letter to U.S. Senators in support of the Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 8404/S. 4556).  Click <here> to read the letter. 

7/25/2022: NYSPHA wrote to the federal Food and Drug Administration in strong support of the proposed rule to prohibit menthol cigarettes (Docket No. FDA-2021-N-1349). Click <here> to read the letter.

To read past Federal Policy, Advocacy Actions and Alerts, click here.