MDH defends local health funding approach as DLS questions formula, match and staffing shortfalls

The Department of Health told the Health and Social Services Subcommittee that it disagrees with legislative analyst recommendations to alter how core public health services funding and salary adjustments are budgeted for local health departments, even as analysts flagged high vacancy rates and asked for clearer, separate accounting of salary increases.

Naomi Kimura, the DLS budget analyst for the Department of Health’s Public Health Administration, said the fiscal 2026 PHA budget rises about $31 million to $320.6 million. She identified three concerns: how the statutory growth formula is being applied, that local health departments’ increases in fiscal 2025–26 rely mainly on the number of state employees they employ, and that salary adjustments and COLAs are not budgeted separately from the lump-sum core public health grants.

Why it matters: Core public health services funding and matching rules shape local health…