Pandemic and Disaster Response Task Force Letter on FY2023 Appropriations

As the nation’s Governors, we write to express our continued support of predictable federal funding and flexibility in state-federal partnerships across these issue areas.

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Dear Chair Leahy, Chair DeLauro, Vice Chairman Shelby, and Ranking Member Granger:

As members of the National Governors Association (NGA), we welcome the opportunity to provide you with our priorities as your committees begin crafting the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) appropriations bills.

In 2021, NGA adopted task forces as a more streamlined, Governor-driven approach to formulate and execute on federal policy matters that are priorities to Governors. The three task forces— Community Renewal, Pandemic and Disaster Response, and Economic Recovery and Revitalization, work in a bipartisan fashion to coordinate NGA’s work on federal policy issues.

The Community Renewal Task Force has jurisdiction over issues in the areas of education, workforce, broadband, nutrition, criminal justice, and agriculture. The Economic Recovery and Revitalization Task Force has jurisdiction over issues in the areas of infrastructure, state stabilization, energy, environment, land management, and taxes.

The Pandemic and Disaster Response Task Force, which we chair, has jurisdiction over issues in the areas of Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), National Guard, cybersecurity, healthcare, human services, immigration, and COVID-19 response efforts. As the nation’s Governors, we write to express our continued support of predictable federal funding and flexibility in state-federal partnerships across these issue areas.

Congress has been an instrumental partner for states and territories in funding efforts to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, as you look toward FY23 appropriations process, NGA requests that you prioritize the following funding efforts in support of:

• Maternal & Child Health Services Block Grant – Governors across the country have taken several steps to improve health outcomes for mothers and children. With the rise in maternal and infant deaths over recent years, robust funding for the Maternal & Child Health Services Block Grant, a federal-state partnership program, is more important than ever.
• Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG) and Community Mental Health Services Block Grants (MHBG) –The SABG provides critical funding to states for prevention, treatment and recovery support services for individuals with substance abuse disorders, and MHBG funding provides comprehensive, community-based mental health services to adults and children. COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the mental health well-being of Americans and exacerbated the use of alcohol and drugs. These grants are critical to ensure Governors have the funding necessary to address behavioral health needs across the country.
• Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) – Despite the key role child care providers played in supporting essential services during the pandemic, this industry was one of the hardest hit. In response, Congress passed three large pandemic relief packages, which included supplemental funding to help child care providers with maintaining the pre-pandemic supply of child care. Prior to the pandemic, states and territories had made great strides towards eliminating child care wait lists, strengthening child care worker background check procedures, and many other improvements to child care and early learning. Sustained investment in CCDBG will allow governors to continue these steps, along with addressing increased costs in order to maintain safe care, staffing challenges, and disruptions in service due to COVID-19.
• Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) – LIHEAP is a critical safety net program aimed at providing bill payment assistance to eligible low-income households to help with heating and cooling costs. With the rising costs of energy prices, Governors request robust funding to ensure that low-income households who are struggling to cool and heat their homes have the assistance needed.
• Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Cooperative Agreement – The PHEP program is a critical source of funding for eligible state, local, and territorial public health departments, helping them build and strengthen their ability to respond to public health threats and associated emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the ongoing response to COVID-19, Governors request robust funding to ensure that our states, localities, and territories are prepared to respond to natural disasters, infectious diseases, and other future public health emergencies.
• Public Health Data Modernization Initiative – As we have seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need for states and territories to have the resources necessary to upgrade their public health systems and infrastructure. Governors have witnessed firsthand the impact of relying on antiquated public health data systems has had on our nation’s response and request adequate funding for this initiative.
• State Opioid Response (SOR) grants – States and territories are leveraging SOR grants to expand opioid treatment, crisis interventions, recovery supports and prevention services. With SOR grants, outpatient treatment to address the opioid crisis is being provided to thousands of individuals across the country, while increasing retention in treatment programs. Robust funding for these grants is critical for states and territories to stem the tide of addiction and opioid-related deaths and increase labor force participation among those currently out of the workforce due to addiction.
• Full-Time Support Positions for the National Guard – Governors and our adjutants general continue to support the growth of National Guard personnel end-strength and the increase of full-time support (FTS) positions. Specifically, the Army National Guard (ARNG) is manned at nearly 58,000 FTS personnel, which translates to only 64 percent of the established 90,000 FTS requirement, falling far short of the other reserve components. Without an increase, Governors remained concerned about the Guard’s ability to maintain a level of readiness that achieves both operational requirements and our immediate response needs in the states and territories.
• Counterdrug Program – States and territories across the country benefit from the National Guard counterdrug program, which helps to support drug interdiction efforts and assists local law enforcement agencies. This critical program encourages continued state-federal partnerships.
• Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Grant Programs – Preparedness grants help develop and sustain capabilities at the state and local, tribal and territorial levels to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate terrorism and other high-consequence disasters and emergencies. Governors urge for strong support for these programs:
  • –Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) – This program is vital to supporting our communities’ efforts to build and sustain core capabilities to prevent, protect, mitigate, respond, and recover from acts of terrorism and other catastrophic threats that risk or nation’s security.
  • –Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) – State, local, tribal and territorial emergency management agencies rely on the resources provided by EMPG to assist in implementation of the National Preparedness System and supports a more resilient and secure nation. EMPG allows emergency managers to build and sustain the capabilities needed to respond to emergency events without additional federal expenditures.
  • –Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program – BRIC provides funding to states and localities to implement pre-disaster mitigation activities that reduce risk and costs by increasing the resilience of our communities and critical infrastructure that sustain them.
• State and Local Cybersecurity – State and local agencies have become ground zero for cybersecurity attacks that have the capacity to cripple critical infrastructure. The heightened threat environment further exacerbates the vulnerability of resource-strapped organizations to cybercriminals that could wreak havoc through launching attacks in the cyber domain. While Governors are grateful for the funding provided through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the importance of cyber preparedness and resilience is paramount to protecting our communities and our nation’s security. We continue to support robust funding that further cyber resilience at the state and local levels.

Thank you for your continued support of these NGA priorities for Fiscal Year 2023, and for focusing on funding our nation’s critical needs.

Sincerely,

Cc:
Chair and Ranking Member, Senate Subcommittee on Defense
Chair and Ranking Member, Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Chairwoman and Ranking Member, Senate Subcommittee on Homeland Security
Chair and Ranking Member, House Subcommittee on Defense
Chair and Ranking Member, House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Service, Education Chairwoman and Ranking Member, House Subcommittee on Homeland Security