BOSTON, MA – Today, the Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) issued the following statement, in response to the release of the House Ways and Means Committee’s ARPA bill, which allocates $150M over three years towards improving the state’s local public health system. 

“We thank Speaker Ron Mariano and Chair Aaron Michlewitz, as well as Chair Marjorie Decker, for taking this crucial step towards fixing our state’s broken local public health system,” said Maddie Ribble, Director of Public Policy at the Massachusetts Public Health Association.  “This funding is essential to beginning the transformation of our system over the next three years. Together with the SAPHE 2.0 legislation, this funding represents a major step towards ensuring that every Massachusetts resident – regardless of their income, race or zip code – has access to equitable, effective, and efficient local health protections. This major progress would not have been possible without the commitment and vision of Chair Denise Garlick and Representative Hannah Kane, and we thank them for their tireless advocacy over many years.”

MPHA is part of a coalition of public health experts, local and state officials, and academic leaders that have been calling for an infusion of federal funding to transform Massachusetts’ dangerously inadequate local public health system. The group has asked the Legislature to invest American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds coming to Massachusetts from the federal government towards building a local public health system that is equitable, efficient and effective.

Read the full release.