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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...
Iowa and South Carolina Redesign Their Public Health Agencies
May 19, 2023 No one needs to point out that the nation’s public health system does not always function well, and the same can be said for environmental health. States are learning that cutting budgets and resources lead to subpar serv...
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...
Climate Change and Health Legislation 2023 Sessions
April 14, 2023There are approximately 70 bills in the state legislatures addressing climate change and health. Bills have been introduced in the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jerse...
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...
2023 State Food Safety Legislation
March 15, 2023At the halfway point of the 2023 state legislative sessions, 161 bills have been introduced regarding food, meaning bills related to cannabis in food, raw milk and dairy, food delivery, food donation, food safety, retail food, manu...
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...
The Senate Version of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Covers ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝
Date posted: Tuesday, August 10, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDThe Senate reached a tentative compromise on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly referred to as the infrastructure bill. The $2.3 trillion package first envision...
The American Jobs Plan Could Provide Billions for the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ Workforce
Date posted: Monday, April 5, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDThe American Jobs Plan Could Provide Billions for the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ WorkforcePresident Joe Biden's American Jobs Plan (aka the Infrastructure Bill) covers a lot, including en...
States Seek to Limit the Authority of Public Health
Date posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDState legislatures have introduced over 2,000 COVID-19-related measures for the 2021 legislative sessions, about one-half the number introduced in 2020. These bills cover lia...
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...
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...
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 ...
Congresswoman Lawrence Introduces the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ Workforce Act
Date posted: Saturday, May 15, 2021Blog poster: Doug Farquhar, JDThe ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ 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. ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...