Joint Finance panel presses Department of Health and Welfare to restore public‑health programs, fund data modernization

The Joint Finance Appropriations Committee heard on a snowy Monday from Department of Health and Welfare officials about the Division of Public Health Services’ fiscal 2026 budget request, which seeks to restore several programs moved from ongoing to one‑time funding and to pay for data and systems modernization.

Why it matters: Public Health Services administers immunizations, communicable‑disease surveillance, laboratory services, suicide‑prevention programs, vital records and other statewide functions that state officials say are essential to disease surveillance, emergency response and basic citizen services. Lawmakers pressed department leaders on program restorations, grant carryovers, and whether some activities should be run by other agencies or by the institutions that currently receive funds.

Keith Bybee, division manager of budget policy analysis, gave the committee an overview of the division’s programs and funding structure and highlighted a framing point repeated throughout the hearing: the division’s FY2025 appropriation was about $164,020,000 and the FY2026 governor’s recommendation reduced the requested total to about $154,000,000 after program changes. Bybee said the division’s large FY2021 appropriation reflected CARES Act and ARPA activity and that the subsequent shift of some programs to one‑time funding created a “structural question” the committee must resolve.

Bybee walked members through one‑time and ongoing enhancement requests. He said the division listed roughly $8,752,500 in one‑time enhancement requests (largely federal carryover and ARPA‑related) that include items described in the budget book as:…