What does it take to build a resilient public health system? Keshana Owens-Cody, Director of the Office of Public Health Infrastructure at the New York State Department of Health, talks about incorporating core competencies into public health agencies and why fostering a true culture of learning is essential in an era of constant change. Owens-Cody explains how competency-based frameworks can help agencies move beyond “survival mode” and toward a more intentional, organized approach to workforce development, performance evaluations, accreditation, and long-term infrastructure building. Later, Catherine Murphy, Senior Analyst of Government Affairs at ASTHO, discusses the status of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA). Originally passed in 2006, the sweeping preparedness law underpins key programs supporting medical countermeasures, hospital readiness, and emergency response nationwide.
ASTHO’s 14 Most Popular Resources of 2025 | ASTHO
The Future of PAHPA and National Public Health Preparedness | ASTHO
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This is Public Health Review
MORNING Edition for Wednesday,
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March 4th, 2026.
I'm John Sheehan with news from
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the Association of State and
Territorial Health Officials
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today.
What does it take to build a
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resilient public health system?
Kishana Owens Cody, director of
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the Office of Public Health
Infrastructure at the New York
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State Department of Health,
talks about incorporating core
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competencies into public health
agencies and why fostering a
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true culture of learning is
essential in an era of constant
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change.
She was recently a panelist on
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an ASTO webinar addressing the
topic.
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Later, Catherine Murphy, senior
analyst of government affairs at
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ASTO, will discuss the status of
the pandemic and All Hazards
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Preparedness Act, or Papa.
Originally passed in 2006, the
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sweeping preparedness law
underpins key programs
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supporting medical
countermeasures, hospital
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readiness, and emergency
response nationwide.
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But let's start with Kashana,
Owens, Cody, and an explanation
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of the term core competencies.
Core competencies are a set of
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skills that everyone possesses
inside of their different
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positions that they hold.
No matter if you're working in
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public health or you're working
in a different industry.
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But core competencies help
managers help staff understand
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the different skills that you
need to be able to work in
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various positions and drive up
to roles and responsibilities
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when you're in the workplace.
And is it more about sort of
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defining these competencies in
the workplace or is it about
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organizing them?
I would say it's a combination
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of both.
Especially working in public
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health, it does help to organize
so that you know, you know what
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different skills and different
responsibilities that you have.
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But public health is is very
complex and there's a lot of
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different core competencies and
skills that you need to be a
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strong, responsive and relevant
public health professional.
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And Kashana, is this webinar for
leaders?
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Is it?
Is it for staff?
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Yeah, I would say anybody.
So if you're currently on the
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fence on like how do I pull
these core competencies and you
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know, there might be a team that
you're working with right now, I
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would say invite the entire team
and be inclusive of your human
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resource department.
So invite HR, invite your
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program manager, whoever's
working on workforce
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development, book a room, get a
conference room.
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Talk to each other afterwards
about how we incorporate these
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things.
But definitely don't come to
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this space alone.
Try to bring your team.
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Don't feel that you should be in
this this conversation alone.
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You also say the the necessity
of a culture of learning, and I
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think that's a phrase that that
makes some sense on on the face
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of it, but what does it actually
mean?
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Yeah, a culture of learning
means that your organization is
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embracing learning every single
day, whether you're working with
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professional development or
you're holding your own
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communities of practicing your
own organization and being able
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to transfer knowledge amongst
your team.
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But it's embracing it.
When we work in public health,
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we have to embrace a culture of
learning because the populations
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that we serve, there's
technology advancements, Life is
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changing every single day, and
we have to be able to be
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responsive to the public during
public health emergencies.
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So a culture of learning helps
us to make sure that we're
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always on our toes and that we
are able to, you know, respond
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to public health emergencies and
public health prevention and
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develop public health
interventions regularly.
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So cultural learning is super
important to make sure that we
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are responsive to everyone's
needs.
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And as you kind of implied
there, it's not sort of A1 and
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done thing.
Learning is always happening.
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Everything's evolving.
The world is changing so
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quickly.
So embracing learning is kind of
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a all the time thing.
Absolutely.
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And so the webinar has input,
has speakers from across the
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system, from different state
agencies, as well as the Public
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Health Foundation.
Why is it important to have
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these different perspectives?
And could you also describe what
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a peer-to-peer learning model
is?
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Sure.
So it's great that we're all
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coming together from different
layers of public health because
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public health is inside of
public health is at state
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agencies, it's in local health
departments, it's in community
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based organizations.
So you'll be able to hear from
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different perspectives on how
we've all adapted and and
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implemented core competencies
into our respective spaces and
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peer-to-peer learning is great.
Like this is this webinar is all
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about that.
Like you'll probably see us on
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the webinar even taking notes
from each other as we're hearing
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each other's presentations.
But peer-to-peer learning is,
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you know, it's we're all subject
matter experts when we come into
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the space or we're all learners
in this space, but we're able to
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share, contribute, take note,
take ideas, call each other
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afterwards.
So this is one of those
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opportunities where you'll be
able to connect with us, follow
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up with us and ask us questions,
but we also want to learn from
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you too.
And for a busy department, could
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you describe a specific pain
point or a specific issue that
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maybe is prevalent across
agencies that this webinar is
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going to address?
Yeah, you may be on the fence
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on, you know, where to start.
Where do I start with talking
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about core competencies,
especially public health core
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competencies?
And how does this relate to my
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job descriptions or my
performance evaluations, or even
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how do I pinpoint what training
and development needs I have?
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This is going to be a great spot
for you to hear from a lot of
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different perspectives on how
they started, where they are
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today, and if it's sustaining.
Like how did they maintain this
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energy to bring in core
competencies into their
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workspaces?
And could you explain the
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difference between business as
usual or maybe an agency being
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in survival mode, say, and
transitioning to a competency
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based structure, Something more
intentional, something with a
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plan?
Yeah, So many of us I, if I
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think of in public health, we
many of us have accreditations
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and this actually may even help
you with strengthening your
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workforce, public health
accreditation areas.
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So this will help you, you know,
organize, you know, looking at
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your different staffing that you
have, looking at the skills and
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responsibilities that you need.
This will help you with
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developing your training plans
so you know, core services that
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you offer your staff within your
respective organizations.
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This webinar and the core
competencies will help you to
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build your infrastructure or
strengthen your infrastructure.
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Kishana Owens Cody, director of
the Office of Public Health
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Infrastructure at the New York
State Department of Health.
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ASTO newsletter subscription
options feature updates,
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analysis, resources and events
on pressing issues and state and
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Subscribe to receive legislative
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connections.
Now let's hear from Catherine
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Murphy, Senior Analyst of
Government Affairs at ASTO, with
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an update on the status of the
pandemic and All Hazards
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Preparedness Act, or Papa.
This is a very big piece of
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legislation as originally passed
in 2006 and has had subsequent
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reauthorizations in 2013 and
2019.
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But the legislation itself
authorized key programs for
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public health preparedness.
Among Papa's provisions are
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programs that authorities for
public health emergencies,
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medical countermeasures, medical
response, infectious disease and
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bio threats, and protecting
vulnerable populations,
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including children, seniors and
people with disabilities.
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And the act was due for
reauthorization, but it wasn't.
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Could you tell us why it hasn't
been reauthorized and maybe
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what's slowing it down?
I can certainly try.
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So this legislation remains a
priority for members of Congress
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and their staff.
It's talks about on the Hill
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pretty regularly, but there's a
couple of factors that have
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slowed down reauthorization.
There are a number of
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stakeholders involved on and off
the Hill that are invested in
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shaping the legislation.
So lots of inputs.
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And over the past few years,
Despite that push for
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reauthorization, I think the
movement has really been delayed
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due to the sheer size of the
bill.
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We've heard from congressional
staff that it's just a huge bill
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to move and there's a lot of
detail and there's other
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priorities on Capitol Hill
taking up quite a lot of
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bandwidth.
Namely, the appropriations
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process has been very slow and
delayed over the last couple of
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years.
So instead of having
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appropriations done for the
fiscal year starting in the
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beginning of October, things are
getting pushed into continuing
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resolutions and appropriations
being completed piecewise
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throughout the year.
Along with those continuing
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resolutions, there have been
short term reauthorizations for
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programs within Papa instead of
reauthorizing the bill as a
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whole.
But there has been perhaps what
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could be described as a renewed
push to revisit the act.
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So we certainly hope to see a
renewed push for
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reauthorization.
This spring, Congressman Dunn's
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office released a request for
information for stakeholders to
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help shape Papa's
reauthorization.
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ASTA will be responding to this
request for information.
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You've described in a recent
blog post a pretty consequential
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executive order that basically
shifted federal responsibility
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down to States and local
governments, some of the
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responsibilities around disaster
planning.
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Can you talk about what has
happened and what the impacts
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could be?
Yeah, absolutely.
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This executive order proposes
shifting the nation's response
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framework and disaster planning
from the federal government to
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States and local entities.
This has created a little bit of
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buzz.
As this executive order
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proposed, states be responsible
for evaluating and managing
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their own readiness, including
supplies like personal
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protective equipment and medical
countermeasures.
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While these changes haven't been
implemented yet, directors of
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preparedness have highlighted
the importance of working in
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concert with the Administration
for Strategic Preparedness and
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Response, which overseas the
Strategic National Stockpile
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have highlighted the importance
for setting clear expectations
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for States and localities to do
that work in preparedness and
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stockpiling, and have also
highlighted the necessity of
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time for states to make these
changes.
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So this isn't an executive order
that we implemented overnight.
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So in talking about, again, like
the delays to reauthorization of
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the ACT, you point out programs
like the Hospital Preparedness
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Program and the Public Health
Emergency Preparedness Program.
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Could they be impacted by the
delay and reauthorization?
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They can be So authorizing and
appropriating are two 2 words
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that find themselves really
commonly thrown around in the DC
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vernacular.
They have different meanings in
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policy, but often get conflated.
So authorizing legislation
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provides a framework for grant
programs and works through a
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different congressional process.
And Congress can fund programs
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that are not authorized, and
they do so annually.
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But in this complex political
environment, the administration
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has indicated some reluctance to
continue funding unauthorized
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programs.
Additionally, authorizing or
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reauthorization provides an
opportunity to look at these
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programs and authorities within
Papa and make any necessary
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changes given the the different
environment that we find
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ourselves in 20 years after the
initial passage of the bill.
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OK.
So essentially there's just a
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lot of uncertainty.
There, there can be a little bit
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we expect to see because these
are such big priority programs,
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especially hospital preparedness
program and the public health
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emergency preparedness program
fund a significant portion of
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state level preparedness through
cooperative grievance with the
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states.
So these programs we know are
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priorities for state health
departments and for the federal
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government to work together and
ensure we have a strong
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preparedness stance.
These programs have continued to
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be funded and we expect to see
them funded in the future, but
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it's certainly important to
continue authorizing these
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programs and and to see a proper
reauthorization.
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Yeah.
Can you give us a sense of what
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we should be watching out for on
the legislative front to to sort
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of signal motion?
Absolutely.
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We will be excitedly looking for
a bill introduction after the
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request for information has been
completed.
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We have also heard that there
will be some priorities for Papa
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in the President's budget
request, which we should be
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seeing in the next couple of
weeks.
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And from there we can see what
the conversation on the Hill.
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Looks like what?
Stakeholder input looks like and
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where it might go this year.
Catherine Murphy is a senior
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00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:17,640
analyst and government affairs
at ASTO.
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00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,160
Earlier we heard from Kishana
Owens Cody, director of the
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00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,000
Office of Public Health
Infrastructure at New York State
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00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:29,600
Department of Health.
Join ASTO for Part 1 of a new
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00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,920
Lunch and Learn webinar series
to explore recent Medicaid
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00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:35,920
policy changes and their
implications for sexually
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00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,520
transmitted infection
prevention, treatment, and
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00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,080
coverage.
As part of Asto's Policy
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00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,160
Institute, this webinar will
highlight key Medicaid policy
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00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:48,280
updates, examine potential
impacts on SDI programs, and
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00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:50,920
discuss considerations for state
and territorial health
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00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:54,320
department programs working to
maintain the continuity of care.
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00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,040
You can register at the link in
the show notes.
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00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,000
This has been Public health
review Morning edition.
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00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,680
I'm John Sheehan for the
Association of State and
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00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:04,040
Territorial Health Officials.
00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:02,920
This is Public Health Review
MORNING Edition for Wednesday,
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00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,080
March 4th, 2026.
I'm John Sheehan with news from
3
00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:08,840
the Association of State and
Territorial Health Officials
4
00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:11,080
today.
What does it take to build a
5
00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:15,440
resilient public health system?
Kishana Owens Cody, director of
6
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:18,040
the Office of Public Health
Infrastructure at the New York
7
00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:20,920
State Department of Health,
talks about incorporating core
8
00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,720
competencies into public health
agencies and why fostering a
9
00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:28,080
true culture of learning is
essential in an era of constant
10
00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,920
change.
She was recently a panelist on
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00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:32,840
an ASTO webinar addressing the
topic.
12
00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,800
Later, Catherine Murphy, senior
analyst of government affairs at
13
00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,280
ASTO, will discuss the status of
the pandemic and All Hazards
14
00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,800
Preparedness Act, or Papa.
Originally passed in 2006, the
15
00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,760
sweeping preparedness law
underpins key programs
16
00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:50,120
supporting medical
countermeasures, hospital
17
00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:52,840
readiness, and emergency
response nationwide.
18
00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:57,080
But let's start with Kashana,
Owens, Cody, and an explanation
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00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:02,520
of the term core competencies.
Core competencies are a set of
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00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,880
skills that everyone possesses
inside of their different
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00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,000
positions that they hold.
No matter if you're working in
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00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:10,600
public health or you're working
in a different industry.
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00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:15,120
But core competencies help
managers help staff understand
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00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:17,760
the different skills that you
need to be able to work in
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00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,840
various positions and drive up
to roles and responsibilities
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00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:26,440
when you're in the workplace.
And is it more about sort of
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00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,680
defining these competencies in
the workplace or is it about
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organizing them?
I would say it's a combination
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of both.
Especially working in public
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00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,840
health, it does help to organize
so that you know, you know what
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00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,320
different skills and different
responsibilities that you have.
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00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,480
But public health is is very
complex and there's a lot of
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different core competencies and
skills that you need to be a
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00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,520
strong, responsive and relevant
public health professional.
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00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,760
And Kashana, is this webinar for
leaders?
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Is it?
Is it for staff?
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00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,520
Yeah, I would say anybody.
So if you're currently on the
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00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,880
fence on like how do I pull
these core competencies and you
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00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,600
know, there might be a team that
you're working with right now, I
40
00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,120
would say invite the entire team
and be inclusive of your human
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00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:13,080
resource department.
So invite HR, invite your
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00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,520
program manager, whoever's
working on workforce
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00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,960
development, book a room, get a
conference room.
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00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,920
Talk to each other afterwards
about how we incorporate these
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00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:24,680
things.
But definitely don't come to
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00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:26,800
this space alone.
Try to bring your team.
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00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,680
Don't feel that you should be in
this this conversation alone.
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00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,240
You also say the the necessity
of a culture of learning, and I
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00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,280
think that's a phrase that that
makes some sense on on the face
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00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,560
of it, but what does it actually
mean?
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00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,640
Yeah, a culture of learning
means that your organization is
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00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:46,320
embracing learning every single
day, whether you're working with
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00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,160
professional development or
you're holding your own
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00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,720
communities of practicing your
own organization and being able
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00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:54,920
to transfer knowledge amongst
your team.
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00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,640
But it's embracing it.
When we work in public health,
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00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:01,120
we have to embrace a culture of
learning because the populations
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that we serve, there's
technology advancements, Life is
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00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,640
changing every single day, and
we have to be able to be
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responsive to the public during
public health emergencies.
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So a culture of learning helps
us to make sure that we're
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00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,200
always on our toes and that we
are able to, you know, respond
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to public health emergencies and
public health prevention and
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00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,960
develop public health
interventions regularly.
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00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,600
So cultural learning is super
important to make sure that we
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are responsive to everyone's
needs.
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00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,960
And as you kind of implied
there, it's not sort of A1 and
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done thing.
Learning is always happening.
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Everything's evolving.
The world is changing so
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quickly.
So embracing learning is kind of
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a all the time thing.
Absolutely.
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00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:48,960
And so the webinar has input,
has speakers from across the
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00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,280
system, from different state
agencies, as well as the Public
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00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,400
Health Foundation.
Why is it important to have
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00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,840
these different perspectives?
And could you also describe what
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00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,600
a peer-to-peer learning model
is?
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00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:04,920
Sure.
So it's great that we're all
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00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,520
coming together from different
layers of public health because
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00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,600
public health is inside of
public health is at state
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00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,280
agencies, it's in local health
departments, it's in community
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00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,680
based organizations.
So you'll be able to hear from
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00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:19,720
different perspectives on how
we've all adapted and and
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00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:23,080
implemented core competencies
into our respective spaces and
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00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,120
peer-to-peer learning is great.
Like this is this webinar is all
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00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,120
about that.
Like you'll probably see us on
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00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,600
the webinar even taking notes
from each other as we're hearing
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00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,560
each other's presentations.
But peer-to-peer learning is,
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00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,880
you know, it's we're all subject
matter experts when we come into
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the space or we're all learners
in this space, but we're able to
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00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:45,320
share, contribute, take note,
take ideas, call each other
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00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:47,520
afterwards.
So this is one of those
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00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,200
opportunities where you'll be
able to connect with us, follow
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00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:53,440
up with us and ask us questions,
but we also want to learn from
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00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,160
you too.
And for a busy department, could
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00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:00,960
you describe a specific pain
point or a specific issue that
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00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:04,360
maybe is prevalent across
agencies that this webinar is
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00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:06,800
going to address?
Yeah, you may be on the fence
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00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,400
on, you know, where to start.
Where do I start with talking
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about core competencies,
especially public health core
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00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:16,320
competencies?
And how does this relate to my
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00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,840
job descriptions or my
performance evaluations, or even
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00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,080
how do I pinpoint what training
and development needs I have?
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00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,240
This is going to be a great spot
for you to hear from a lot of
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00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,720
different perspectives on how
they started, where they are
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today, and if it's sustaining.
Like how did they maintain this
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00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:35,760
energy to bring in core
competencies into their
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00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:39,400
workspaces?
And could you explain the
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00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:43,600
difference between business as
usual or maybe an agency being
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00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,840
in survival mode, say, and
transitioning to a competency
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based structure, Something more
intentional, something with a
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00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,720
plan?
Yeah, So many of us I, if I
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think of in public health, we
many of us have accreditations
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and this actually may even help
you with strengthening your
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workforce, public health
accreditation areas.
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So this will help you, you know,
organize, you know, looking at
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your different staffing that you
have, looking at the skills and
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00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,640
responsibilities that you need.
This will help you with
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00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:18,520
developing your training plans
so you know, core services that
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you offer your staff within your
respective organizations.
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This webinar and the core
competencies will help you to
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00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,240
build your infrastructure or
strengthen your infrastructure.
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00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:33,600
Kishana Owens Cody, director of
the Office of Public Health
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00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:36,240
Infrastructure at the New York
State Department of Health.
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00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,680
ASTO newsletter subscription
options feature updates,
125
00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,520
analysis, resources and events
on pressing issues and state and
126
00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,960
territorial public health.
Subscribe to receive legislative
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00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:52,080
alerts, news releases, public
health weekly events, and FIG
128
00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,800
connections.
Now let's hear from Catherine
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00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,200
Murphy, Senior Analyst of
Government Affairs at ASTO, with
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00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:02,400
an update on the status of the
pandemic and All Hazards
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00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:07,520
Preparedness Act, or Papa.
This is a very big piece of
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00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:11,160
legislation as originally passed
in 2006 and has had subsequent
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00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,800
reauthorizations in 2013 and
2019.
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00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,760
But the legislation itself
authorized key programs for
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public health preparedness.
Among Papa's provisions are
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programs that authorities for
public health emergencies,
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00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,600
medical countermeasures, medical
response, infectious disease and
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00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,320
bio threats, and protecting
vulnerable populations,
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00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:32,080
including children, seniors and
people with disabilities.
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00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:37,760
And the act was due for
reauthorization, but it wasn't.
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00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:42,360
Could you tell us why it hasn't
been reauthorized and maybe
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00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,920
what's slowing it down?
I can certainly try.
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00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:50,280
So this legislation remains a
priority for members of Congress
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00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:52,640
and their staff.
It's talks about on the Hill
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00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:57,120
pretty regularly, but there's a
couple of factors that have
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00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:00,400
slowed down reauthorization.
There are a number of
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00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:04,200
stakeholders involved on and off
the Hill that are invested in
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00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,040
shaping the legislation.
So lots of inputs.
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00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,680
And over the past few years,
Despite that push for
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00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,320
reauthorization, I think the
movement has really been delayed
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00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:14,280
due to the sheer size of the
bill.
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00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:19,080
We've heard from congressional
staff that it's just a huge bill
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00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,600
to move and there's a lot of
detail and there's other
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00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:26,480
priorities on Capitol Hill
taking up quite a lot of
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00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:28,280
bandwidth.
Namely, the appropriations
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00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:32,320
process has been very slow and
delayed over the last couple of
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00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,520
years.
So instead of having
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00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,679
appropriations done for the
fiscal year starting in the
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00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:42,320
beginning of October, things are
getting pushed into continuing
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00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,560
resolutions and appropriations
being completed piecewise
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00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:48,720
throughout the year.
Along with those continuing
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00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:53,840
resolutions, there have been
short term reauthorizations for
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00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,800
programs within Papa instead of
reauthorizing the bill as a
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00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:02,200
whole.
But there has been perhaps what
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00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,520
could be described as a renewed
push to revisit the act.
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00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:08,560
So we certainly hope to see a
renewed push for
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00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:11,920
reauthorization.
This spring, Congressman Dunn's
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00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:15,680
office released a request for
information for stakeholders to
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00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:18,480
help shape Papa's
reauthorization.
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00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:21,400
ASTA will be responding to this
request for information.
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00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,200
You've described in a recent
blog post a pretty consequential
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00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:30,880
executive order that basically
shifted federal responsibility
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00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,200
down to States and local
governments, some of the
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00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:35,840
responsibilities around disaster
planning.
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00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,400
Can you talk about what has
happened and what the impacts
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00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,240
could be?
Yeah, absolutely.
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00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:45,800
This executive order proposes
shifting the nation's response
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00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,200
framework and disaster planning
from the federal government to
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00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,680
States and local entities.
This has created a little bit of
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00:09:52,680 --> 00:09:54,720
buzz.
As this executive order
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00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:57,680
proposed, states be responsible
for evaluating and managing
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00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:00,400
their own readiness, including
supplies like personal
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00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,000
protective equipment and medical
countermeasures.
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00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:07,560
While these changes haven't been
implemented yet, directors of
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00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:11,160
preparedness have highlighted
the importance of working in
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00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,640
concert with the Administration
for Strategic Preparedness and
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00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,640
Response, which overseas the
Strategic National Stockpile
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00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,440
have highlighted the importance
for setting clear expectations
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00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:24,880
for States and localities to do
that work in preparedness and
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00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:28,720
stockpiling, and have also
highlighted the necessity of
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00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:30,840
time for states to make these
changes.
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00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:34,680
So this isn't an executive order
that we implemented overnight.
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00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:39,680
So in talking about, again, like
the delays to reauthorization of
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00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:43,920
the ACT, you point out programs
like the Hospital Preparedness
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00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,800
Program and the Public Health
Emergency Preparedness Program.
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00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,440
Could they be impacted by the
delay and reauthorization?
197
00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:59,040
They can be So authorizing and
appropriating are two 2 words
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00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,280
that find themselves really
commonly thrown around in the DC
199
00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:04,600
vernacular.
They have different meanings in
200
00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:09,600
policy, but often get conflated.
So authorizing legislation
201
00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,000
provides a framework for grant
programs and works through a
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00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,920
different congressional process.
And Congress can fund programs
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00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,720
that are not authorized, and
they do so annually.
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00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:24,120
But in this complex political
environment, the administration
205
00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:27,240
has indicated some reluctance to
continue funding unauthorized
206
00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:30,560
programs.
Additionally, authorizing or
207
00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:33,960
reauthorization provides an
opportunity to look at these
208
00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,960
programs and authorities within
Papa and make any necessary
209
00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,400
changes given the the different
environment that we find
210
00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,240
ourselves in 20 years after the
initial passage of the bill.
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00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:49,840
OK.
So essentially there's just a
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lot of uncertainty.
There, there can be a little bit
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we expect to see because these
are such big priority programs,
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especially hospital preparedness
program and the public health
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emergency preparedness program
fund a significant portion of
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state level preparedness through
cooperative grievance with the
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states.
So these programs we know are
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priorities for state health
departments and for the federal
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government to work together and
ensure we have a strong
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preparedness stance.
These programs have continued to
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be funded and we expect to see
them funded in the future, but
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it's certainly important to
continue authorizing these
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programs and and to see a proper
reauthorization.
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Yeah.
Can you give us a sense of what
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we should be watching out for on
the legislative front to to sort
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of signal motion?
Absolutely.
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We will be excitedly looking for
a bill introduction after the
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request for information has been
completed.
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We have also heard that there
will be some priorities for Papa
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in the President's budget
request, which we should be
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seeing in the next couple of
weeks.
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And from there we can see what
the conversation on the Hill.
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Looks like what?
Stakeholder input looks like and
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where it might go this year.
Catherine Murphy is a senior
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analyst and government affairs
at ASTO.
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00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,160
Earlier we heard from Kishana
Owens Cody, director of the
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Office of Public Health
Infrastructure at New York State
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00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:29,600
Department of Health.
Join ASTO for Part 1 of a new
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00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,920
Lunch and Learn webinar series
to explore recent Medicaid
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00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:35,920
policy changes and their
implications for sexually
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00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,520
transmitted infection
prevention, treatment, and
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00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,080
coverage.
As part of Asto's Policy
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00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,160
Institute, this webinar will
highlight key Medicaid policy
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00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:48,280
updates, examine potential
impacts on SDI programs, and
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00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:50,920
discuss considerations for state
and territorial health
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00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:54,320
department programs working to
maintain the continuity of care.
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00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,040
You can register at the link in
the show notes.
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00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,000
This has been Public health
review Morning edition.
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00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,680
I'm John Sheehan for the
Association of State and
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00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:04,040
Territorial Health Officials.