579: Tracking Congressional Deadlines, King’s Message Mirrors PH Concerns

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, January 12, 2024. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

KYLE GASAWAY: 

It is really a program where people can come together and learn from other people's experiences and to build upon that community of diverse thinkers.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO's Kyle Gasaway is talking about the Diverse Executives Leading in Public Health program. A fourth cohort held its inaugural meeting in December.

GASAWAY: 

I think something that we have really learned from cohort one now heading into cohort four is that we can really lean on the expertise of the cohort members themselves. While we do bring our subject matter experts to talk about resiliency, burnout, and also the networking aspects of DELPH. It's really those one-on-one connections that the cohort members themselves are able to foster.

JOHNSON: 

Gasaway says many program alums have grown their careers after the training.

GASAWAY: 

We have seen people that have had career growth opportunities; people have gotten job promotions; people have shifted from working inside governments and public health, to now being their own consultants running their own business. And being able to just gain the skills and the confidence that the DELPH community can bring allow them to take that leap of faith and to really be their own advocate for equity. 

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

You can learn more about the DELPH program using the links in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO is monitoring progress on bills that fund public health as Congress faces deadlines to approve key spending measures. We get more from Jeffrey Ekoma, in our latest View from Washington, D.C. report. Jeffrey Ekoma, great to have you back here on the newscast in 2024.

JEFFREY EKOMA: 

It's a pleasure to be back and Happy New Year.

JOHNSON: 

Happy New Year to you as well. I'm wondering though, if ASTHO members will think that based on the budget agreement that was just announced, what's your take on it?

EKOMA: 

Yeah, there was a really big news that came out last week, congressional leaders struck a deal that set defense and non-defense spending levels for the current fiscal year. So for defense, the level set at $886 billion for non-defense, it was set at nearly 773 billion, which is good news, I think we're trending in the right way. This does set the motion of the task of actually allocating funding to the 12 subcommittees and allows them to continue their work in writing and approving appropriation bills. Also, included in that agreement was the rescission of 6.1 billion in COVID-19 supplemental funding. So, there's good news and you know, some not so the best news.

JOHNSON: 

Well talk a little bit more about that COVID rescission, how does that impact the members?

EKOMA: 

Yeah, it's something that we're doing a lot of deep digging into right now to better understand what that looks like, right now in our understanding, about half of those rescissions are related to the Health Department Health and Human Services or HHS. So, we're trying to figure out exactly what of that pertains to the needs of our members and hope to report back soon.

JOHNSON: 

Another thing we've been following here with Carolyn Mullen, the last few weeks or so is this set of deadlines that we're now facing. Can you tell us how the latest developments impact those dates?

EKOMA: 

I can give you one word to describe it and it's interesting. Things are moving very, very quickly. There are many options before Congress right now. The first option is passing a continuing resolution that extends government funding for the approps bills that expire on January 19 to allow for additional time to pass those bills. It does seem like the Senate is going to proceed and trying to get a CR pass through the Senate and hopefully the house will do so. Another option is passing a CR for probation bills that expire both on January 19 and for the bill that expires on February 2. And the possible data that's been floated for this potential CR is passing a car into sort of early to mid-March. Now, I think we're continuing to remain optimistic that we will not be in a shutdown and that does seem to be the case, but there are some things that make us a little bit concerned. Um, there does seem to be some House Republicans that are very concerned with the budget deal that was struck last weekend. So, it's something that we'll continue to track and hopefully we'll have some good news to share soon.

JOHNSON: 

We're counting on all of that. Jeffrey Ekoma. Thank you for joining us. Have a great weekend.

EKOMA: 

Thank you and you too.

JOHNSON: 

Also, today, a new ASTHO blog article examines the connections between public health and the March on Washington led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. This is ASTHO's Melissa Lewis.

MELISSA LEWIS: 

And that's because the march truly embodies key public health tenants and the key takeaways highlighted in the blog where the importance of learning from the past in order to inform the future, taking collective action, and collaborating for change, valuing inclusion in centering intersectionality, and addressing the social determinants of health to advance health equity.

JOHNSON: 

 Lewis says many inequities raised on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial remain key public health concerns today.

LEWIS: 

They presented a list of 10 demands, addressing the need for a living wage and they spoke against the segregation, discrimination, voting rights, employment protections, adequate housing and education, and workforce, job placement and training. And these are all the different types of conditions that we look at today, when we're trying to address the root causes of inequities.

JOHNSON: 

You can read Lewis's blog article now there's a link in the show notes.

Finally, this morning, ASTHO launches a new website next Tuesday, and you can be there when it happens. O'Keyla Cooper has that story.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

Join ASTHO's virtual launch event on January 16. From 2 to 3 p.m. ET to learn about INSPIRE Readiness, a new website designed to improve public health preparedness and response processes. This platform offers inspiring stories, practical resources, and proven strategies for workforce training, equity, and data systems, and management. You can register now for this event through the link in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

Before we go, we'd like to remind you to follow this newscast on your podcast player and ASTHO on social media. We're on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. That'll do it for today.

We're off for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday, but back Tuesday morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great holiday weekend.