Government Affairs Blog
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State Voices Amplified During 2024 Hill Day
April 8, 2024 We held our 7th Annual Hill Day on March 28, 2024, with a new twist. This was the first year that instead of only including our board members, we facilitated the opportunity for our members to join us. We are pleased to report that...
President Biden Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal Released
March 18, 2024 President Biden released his fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget proposal on March 11, outlining the Administration’s priorities for the upcoming fiscal year, including amounts to fund environmental health programs at the Cen...
Congress to Approve Fiscal Year 2024 Funding for Several Federal Agencies
March 4, 2024 Congress released the massive $467.5 billion fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations package for the Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-VA and Transportation-HUD budgets. T...
Federal Funding: Congressional Update
February 26, 2024 As we move into the sixth month of the federal fiscal year (FY 2024) with no final agreement and the continuing resolution (CR) expiring, Congress needs to act—either to enact the appropriations bill or another CR.No one in Con...
2023 State Legislation on Body Art
January 9, 2024 A total of 60 pieces of legislation related to body art were introduced in 19 states and Puerto Rico during the 2023 legislative sessions. Of these 60, 9 were enacted in California, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, Tennessee. ...
2023: Our Year in Review for Government Affairs
January 5, 2024 Washington, DC, remains as chaotic as ever. Congress spent more time trying to figure out a speaker than floor time on appropriations. The House of Representatives is as far behind as it has ever been on passing the fiscal year (...
House and Senate Have Until January 19 to Finalize Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations
December 18, 2023 Congress is much closer to finalizing the fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations than the last blog posted on the topic in July, but they still have a ways to go. Top-Line Spending Levels and Other Fund...
2023 Update on State Food Safety Legislation
October 3, 2023 The following table provides a summary of bills related to food safety that have been introduced by state legislations in 2023.Food Safety Topic# of Bills IntroducedRetail food67Food freedom66Food safety51Meat, seafood, or poultr...
Our Story to Tell
October 3, 2023 As I relax here in a cabana near Cabo San Jose in Baja, California, I’m letting myself do one of my favorite forms of relaxation: thinking.Being unencumbered by the noise of everyday life frees me to just sit and think. About wor...
The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act
September 5, 2023 The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act (PAHPRA) undergoes review and is reauthorized by Congress every 5 years, the first time in 2018 and again at the end of September 2023. Congress has mark...
FDA Appoints Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Program
August 29, 2023 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the appointment of James “Jim” Jones as the first-ever deputy commissioner for the Human Foods Program. As deputy commissioner of the Human Foods Program, J...
House and Senate Appropriators Remain Far Apart on Fiscal Year 2024 Budgets
August 25, 2023 Congressional appropriators remain where they were earlier this summer regarding budgets that affect environmental health. Not much movement on the appropriation budgets for the Centers for Disease Control and...
House and Senate Continue to Work on Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations
July 24, 2023 The appropriation bills for Fiscal Year 2024 are being finalized, with the House Appropriations Committee passing the FY 2024 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bi...
Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Moving Forward, Albeit Slowly
June 26, 2023After the recent debacle over the debt ceiling, Congress is once again working on the fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget. The Senate is using the agreed-to FY 2023 amount set by the debt ceiling and the House of Representatives is followi...
Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023
June 6, 2023 On Saturday, June 3, 2023, President Joe Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023, which raises the debt ceiling to allow the U.S. federal government to continue to pay its bills. The deal suspends the deb...
Fiscal Year 2024 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill
May 18, 2023The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies marked up the fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations bill on May 18, 2023. The committee approved a party line ...
We Were Back in Washington, DC, in Early May
May 17, 2023 Our director of Government Affairs was back at the nation’s capital in early May to advocate for the inclusion of the environmental health workforce in the Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program. We...
We Advocate for Support of FDA Food Safety Efforts
May 11, 2023 We met with congressional appropriators last month to discuss the importance of Food and Drug Administration(FDA) budgets for food safety to state, local, tribal, and territorial environmental health agencies. Our...
NEHA Meets With the FDA Commissioner
April 10, 2023We were in our nation’s capital the first week of April visiting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Headquarters in White Oak, Maryland.Executive Director Dr. David Dyjack, Director of EZ Rance Baker, Director of Government Af...
NEHA in Washington, DC, 2023
March 2, 2023Our sixth annual Hill Day was held on Thursday, February 23. The NEHA Board of Directors and several of our members met with 53 members of the U.S. Congress from both the House of Representative and Senate and both parties who serve...
Government Affairs Accomplishments in 2022
February 2, 2023Our Government Affairs program continues to expand its influence by reaching out to the current administration, Congress, and federal agencies, as well as engaging in state activities such as tracking state legislation and workin...
Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill
Thursday, December 22, 2022dfarquhar@neha.orgCongress has released a bipartisan and bicameral (i.e. both legislative branched) spending package, known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023. The package includes all of the fiscal year (FY) ...
Congress in Negotiations to Finalize the Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations
Tuesday, December 6, 2022dfarquhar@neha.org With the midterms over, Congress needs to finish their work on the fiscal year (FY) 2023 budgets. Republicans proposed a top-line of roughly $1.65 trillion in discretionary spending, in line with Presi...
Results of the Midterm Elections on Environmental Health
Tuesday, November 22, 2022dfarquhar@neha.org The 2022 midterm elections are finally over. And we know the results, mostly.The U.S. Senate will remain in control of the Democratic Party, having at least 50 seats and the vote of Vice President Kam...
State Ballot Measures on Environmental Health
November 11, 2022dfarquhar@neha.org On November 8, 2022, voters in the U.S. decided on 133 state ballot measures, including several that addressed water, climate change, health, and cannabis. Most measures get on the ballot in one of two ways: 1...
2021 State Enacted Food Legislation: June 2021
Date posted: Wednesday, June 23, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDState legislatures introduced several hundred bills related to food during the 2021 legislative sessions. Almost every state introduced legislation regarding food—including food ...
2021 Year in Government Affairs
Date posted: Monday, January 10, 2022Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDI've completed my first full year as director of Government Affairs for NEHA and, as such, would like to list the accomplishments of the program in 2021.This endeavor is more tha...
Second Annual World Food Day
Date posted: Monday, June 29, 2020Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDIn the midst of COVID-19, enforcing social distancing, and attempts to reopen the economy, we neglected to celebrate June 7, 2020, as the 2nd Annual World Food Day, sponsored by the...
Accomplishments So Far
Date posted: Thursday, June 2, 2022 - 13:30Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDEmail of Blog Poster: dfarquhar@neha.orgAs we approach the halfway mark of this year, I thought I would reflect on the activities that our Government Affairs department has...
Biden Announces Nominees for Key Positions on Health and Science
Date posted: Thursday, January 21, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDThe incoming Biden Administration has announced cabinet nominees, many White House positions, and several nominees for key posts within the administration.Regarding science, th...
Biden-Harris Administration to Invest $7 Billion From American Rescue Plan to Hire and Train Public Health Workers in Response to COVID-19
Date posted: Friday, June 4, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDLast month the White House announced that it will be redistributing $7.4 billion from the American Rescue Plan to hire and train public health workers in response to COVID-19, includ...
Congress and Congressional Appropriations in the Final Weeks
Date posted: Tuesday, September 22, 2020Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDThe new fiscal year begins on October 1 and the Senate has yet to vote—even at the subcommittee or committee level—on any of the 12 regular appropriations bills. Over in the H...
Congress Finally Enacts Omnibus Spending Package for Fiscal Year 2022
Date posted: Wednesday, March 9, 2022Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDEmail of Blog Poster: dfarquhar@neha.orgThe U.S. House of Representatives voted on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, on an omnibus spending bill that would fund the Centers for Disease C...
Congress Passes the $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill
Date posted: Monday, November 8, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDCongress was busy this weekend by passing the $1.2 trillion bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (HR 3684) and agreeing to act on the $1.85 trillion reconciliation m...
Congressional House Appropriations Markup of the Labor-HHS-Education Budget Provides Significant Increases to the Nation’s Public Health Infrastructure
Date posted: Friday, July 16, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDThe House Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee oversees the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) budget and released its markup budget this week. The subcommi...
Congressperson Rob Wittman Visits Harris Teeter Store
April 25, 2022NEHA organized a site visit for Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA) at a local Harris Teeter grocery store in Williamsburg, Virginia, on Friday, April 22.Representative Wittman, cochair of the Congressional Public Health Caucus, work...
Congresswoman Lawrence Introduces the Environmental Health Workforce Act
Date posted: Saturday, May 15, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDThe Environmental Health Workforce Act (H.R. 2661) was introduced by Representative Brenda Lawrence (D-Michigan) on April 19, 2021. The act would require the Secretary of the U.S. ...
Enacted State Food Legislation
Date posted: Thursday, September 23, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDState legislatures introduced several hundred bills related to food during the 2021 legislative sessions. Almost every state introduced legislation regarding food. From food ...
Environmental Health Holds the Keys to Public Health's Future
Date posted: Friday, June 5, 2020Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDOne of the foremost paradigm changes that has occurred in public policy in the past 10 years is the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as the Aff...
Fiscal Year 2021 Budget
Date posted: Monday, December 28, 2020Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDOn Monday, December 21, the House and Senate Appropriators came to an agreement regarding the fiscal year (FY) 2021 federal budget. Congress released the omnibus appropriations ...
Food Safety Remains Top Government Concern
July 20, 2022Congress must be disappointed with food safety constantly being considered second to drug concerns at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)."Food safety is currently a second-class citizen at the Food and Drug Administration", said...
Laws to Exempt Retail Foods From State Oversight Are on the Rise
Date posted: Thursday, March 4, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDNEHA has been able to identify 41 bills in 24 states in the 2021–2022 state legislative session that relate to cottage foods (i.e., bills the relax or eliminate food safety requir...
National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week Is October 25–31, 2020
Date posted: Thursday, October 22, 2020Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDThe federal government has fought the scourge of lead poisoning since before the passage of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992. The government began ...
NEHA Advocates for the Environmental Health Profession to the United Nations
Date posted: Thursday, June 18, 2020Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDRecently, NEHA Executive Director Dr. David Dyjack co-wrote a letter to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) regarding their Science and Technology for DR...
NEHA in Washington, DC, 2022
March 2, 2022The National Environmental Health Association's (NEHA) fifth annual Hill Day is scheduled for Thursday, March 3. The NEHA Board of Directors is scheduled to meet virtually with 30 congressional offices (with more confirmations pendi...
NEHA Visits Congress Virtually
Date posted: Tuesday, April 27, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDFor this year's Earth Day on April 22, NEHA spread the word about environmental health among the nation's policy makers in Washington, DC. With the COVID-19 pandemic and other res...
Public Health Authorities in the Time of COVID-19
Date posted: Monday, August 3, 2020Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDNEHA received a question from a long-time member regarding the legal authorities to manage COVID-19. What are these authorities based on? How long do they last? What measures can b...
State Food Safety Legislation Enacted in August 2020
Date posted: Wednesday, September 2, 2020Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDThe National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) identified 223 bills that were introduced in 30 states and Washington, DC, related to food, food safety, retail food, and...