Joint finance committee reviews Public Health Services budget, restoration requests and data-modernization priorities

The Joint Finance Corporation Committee on an unspecified snowy Monday reviewed the Department of Health and Welfare's Division of Public Health Services budget, hearing presentations from Legislative staff and department leaders about program restorations, one-time federally funded enhancements and IT modernization needs.

Keith Bybee, division manager of budget policy analysis, told the committee that "public health services is a big 1," and walked members through the division's five program areas and where to find the materials in the legislative budget book.

The Division of Public Health Services covers physical health services (immunizations, chronic and communicable disease prevention, food safety and vital records), emergency medical services (EMS) and preparedness, the state public health laboratory, the legislatively established suicide prevention program (created in 2016), and a health care policy initiatives program that houses the State Healthcare Innovation Plan (SHIP). Director Alex Adams said the department used a 0-based review to reassess each program and that the overall public health appropriation fell from about $164 million in 2025 to a requested $154 million in the governor's recommendation for 2026.

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