Community Government Health & Wellness

Legislature cut key public health fund by $24 million over next two years

Washington public health departments will see a slight reduction in state funding for basic services over the next two years, but the severity and local impacts of that loss on the Kitsap Peninsula remains unclear. 

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State legislators reduced spending on Foundational Public Health Services by $24 million over the 2025-2027 budget. Those funds sustain essential public health operations, including assessments, emergency preparedness and business competencies.  

Cuts came as legislators patched a 4-year, $16 billion budget deficit this year through a combination of reductions and new taxes. Considering that environment, the cut is relatively small, said Jaime Bodden, managing director of the Washington state Association of Local Public Health Officials. 

“It’s not insignificant,” she said. “But given the budgetary challenges, I’m grateful it’s not more.” 

Envisioned as a stable funding source

Foundational Public Health Services funding was established during the 2017-2019 budget cycle to ensure the availability of core public health services in all areas of the state. FPHS provides a stable funding source for all local public health jurisdictions in the state.

“The idea was anywhere you go you have basic public health services,” said Yolanda Fong, administrator for the Kitsap Public Health District.

FPHS marked a huge change when it was introduced, Fong said. Previously, local health jurisdictions often faced financial uncertainty from year to year. Agencies spent lots of time trying to secure grant dollars. 

FPHS comprises about 22% of the revenue in the Kitsap Public Health District’s latest budget. The remainder comes from contracts, grants, service fees and other state and local dollars. 

Washington state provides 29.5% of Pierce County’s 2024-25 public health budget, although it is unclear how much of that is FPHS funds. A spokesperson for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department did not return a request for comment. 

Fong said it was too early to say what impacts they might see locally. She did note any loss in dollars supporting public health infrastructure is potentially concerning.

“We just went through a pandemic,” she said. “Reducing any public health funds makes me nervous.”

Program never was fully funded

A 2018 estimate found that it would take $450 million every biennium to fully fund foundational public health services. Earmarks have never reached that level, but prior this year they had also never been reduced. Over the previous biennium the state invested $324 million for FPHS services.

Representatives from local and state health agencies are in the process of negotiating where cuts in FPHS funding will come from. Shelby Anderson, a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Health, wrote in an email that the agency is working with partners to analyze “the additional impacts of the unexpected FPHS reductions.” They hope to have an analysis done by the end of this month. 

Washington’s budget includes a $39 million cut to the DOH, Anderson said, comprising 2.4% of its budget. Layoffs are in progress, she said. Over 40 agency employees will have lost their jobs by the end of this month due to a combination of state and federal cuts.

“Further layoffs are anticipated as a result of state budget reductions,” Anderson wrote. “DOH is currently assessing how these additional cuts will affect its programs and staffing.” 

Layoffs related to these reductions are expected to take effect after July 31, she said.