The Latest on How APHA Is Protecting Public Health (as of April 6, 2026)

APHA advocates for key public health agencies and programs in FY 2027 appropriations process 

On March 23, APHA and 164 additional members of the CDC Coalition and other supporting state, national and academic organizations sent a letter to House and Senate Labor-HHS-Education appropriations subcommittee members urging Congress to include $11.58 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s programs in the FY 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill.

In the letter, the organizations thanked the leaders of the subcommittee for their bipartisan efforts to pass a final FY 2026 funding bill that supports CDC programs and funding, rejects extreme cuts and rejects the dismantling of key programs and centers at the agency. The organizations urged the subcommittee leaders to work in a bipartisan fashion again in FY 2027 to ensure adequate funding for the agency and its many programs that protect the public from health threats and prevent disease and disability. The groups also called on Congress to conduct oversight related to any proposed agency and program reorganizations, to maintain protections in the bill that ensure funding is disbursed on time and for intended programs and grants, maintain staffing to meet the agency’s statutory requirements and reject controversial policy riders that negatively impact public health.

APHA and 58 additional members of the Friends of HRSA coalition also sent a letter to Congress urging $10.5 billion in discretionary funding for the Health Resources and Services Administration in fiscal year 2027. The letter urges Congress to oppose attempts to cut HRSA funding and reject any administration attempts to fire federal staff or undermine the agency’s work. The letter outlines the essential programs supported by HRSA, including community health centers, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, the Title X Family Planning program, and the millions of people benefitted by HRSA’s 3,000 grantee programs.

APHA also weighed in with other partners in support of FY 2027 funding for a number of other programs and divisions within HHS and other agencies including:

• Supporting adequate funding for CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics
• Supporting adequate funding for CDC’s Public Health Data Modernization efforts, Response Ready Enterprise Data Integration program, and $100 million for the CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics
• Support funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Support adequate funding for programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Support funding and dispersing of Department of Transportation Safe Streets and Roads for All grants 
• Support funding for CDC's Tobacco Prevention & Cessation Programs

Today, the president released his FY 2027 budget proposal to Congress. APHA will provide more details on the proposal and is currently analyzing proposed funding levels for CDC, HRSA, other HHS agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency and other public health-related programs. APHA will continue to advocate for robust funding for public health agencies and programs in FY 2027 and will oppose efforts to cut funding, implement misguided reorganizations and include divisive anti-public health policy riders.

APHA members can contact their members of Congress to ask them to support robust funding for CDC, HRSA and other public health agencies and programs in the FY 2027 appropriations process by visiting APHA’s action alert page.

Farm Bill moves forward in House of Representatives

On March 5, the House Agriculture Committee voted to pass its version of the 2026 Farm Bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, by a vote of 34-17. While the first version of the bill was decried as partisan and lacking many essential nutrition provisions, some bipartisan agreement was reached on provisions related to disaster relief, crop insurance and specialty crop support. Unfortunately, the bill still fails to restore the SNAP funding that was cut in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and as such, will “have challenges getting broad bipartisan support on the floor,” as outlined by House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-MN). The bill now awaits consideration on the full House floor. APHA will continue to advocate for strengthened funding for SNAP and other safety net nutrition programs that fight hunger and help Americans access nutritious food.

APHA submits brief in support of West Virginia school vaccination requirements

On March 26, APHA, Infectious Diseases Society of America, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians and other leading health organizations submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia urging the court to overturn a lower court ruling allowing for religious exemptions to the state’s school vaccination requirements.

In the brief, APHA and the other organizations explained the role of vaccination in reducing disease transmission, morbidity and mortality, and the challenged legal framework within the broader context of established public health practice. It also addresses the legal and policy foundations supporting neutral, generally applicable vaccination requirements, as well as scientific support for why such vaccination requirements are the least restrictive means for states to effectively protect children from infectious disease. The organizations point out that school vaccination requirements emerged from repeated experience with devastating infectious disease outbreaks that once killed or disabled thousands of American children each year.

In the brief, the organizations stated, “Schools are common sites of enhanced disease transmission, as sustained close contact among large numbers of children provides ideal conditions for pathogens to spread. Effective prevention therefore depends not on individual-centric protection, but on maintaining high levels of population-wide immunity that interrupt chains of transmission and reduce the overall number of children who become seriously ill or die from vaccine-preventable diseases before outbreaks can take hold. Vaccination is uniquely capable of achieving this effect and vaccination requirements for school-entry are designed to preserve this collective protection. When those requirements are weakened by broad non-medical exemptions, immunity gaps emerge.”

The organizations also explained that religious and other non-medical exemptions are not tied to individualized medical risk, are not limited by scientific criteria, and are often geographically or socially clustered. As a result, they have resulted in pockets of un- and under-vaccinated individuals or “hot spots” where herd immunity is compromised.

The court is expected to hear the case this spring.

Watch: Making sense of the buzzwords and protecting public health

You’ve probably heard the buzzwords — "Big Beautiful Bill," "Reconciliation," "FY 2025," "FY 2026," "Rescission Package." What do these terms mean, and how could they impact public health funding in your community?

Watch: When Cutting Costs, Costs Health: What You Need to Know about Federal Policy Changes

In June and July, the U.S. Congress passed two large bills that formally upend decades of public health work in the U.S. and abroad. To pay for tax cuts, Congress - with pressure from the President - changed eligibility criteria for Medicaid, SNAP, and codified funding cuts for global health and democracy programs and public broadcasting.