MDH asks Legislature to backfill federal cuts, raise fees for water, licensure and inspections

Commissioner Brooke Cunningham, of the Minnesota Department of Health, told the House Health and Finance Policy Committee on Feb. 10 that MDH needs state support to absorb expected federal funding reductions and to maintain core public-health services.

"At MDH our mission is to protect, maintain and improve the health of all communities," Cunningham said, summarizing the department's role in everything from infectious-disease response to drinking-water protection, newborn screening and WIC services.

Cunningham framed the request as a response to shrinking federal support and rising operating costs. She told the committee that local public-health departments across Minnesota spend about $400 million collectively while the state's health-care spending approaches $67 billion, and that the number of local public-health full-time equivalent staff per 100,000 people has fallen roughly 22% over the last 20 years.

The department's budget package includes two main General Fund cost proposals plus several fee increases and budget-neutral changes. The largest General Fund ask is to sustain infectious-disease prevention and response capacity as COVID-era federal funding declines. Cunningham noted continuing threats such as bird flu, Ebola-related events noted by federal partners, and rising tick- and mosquito-borne illness, and she said an aging population and more people living in congregate care increase vulnerability.

Key proposals and details

- Infectious-disease prevention and response: state funding to replace federal COVID-era investments that supported outbreak…