RCRC is a member of the CA Can’t Wait Coalition, advocating for investments in county public health departments. The Coalition is made up of public health officials, local leaders, frontline workers, and health equity advocates. We are pleased that the joint Assembly and Senate budget agreement contains historic new investments for California’s battered local public health departments.
The joint Assembly and Senate budget agreement upholds the $300M proposed by CA Can’t Wait and committed to as part of last year’s final budget deal, and invests an additional $186.4M in our Public Health Equity Readiness and Opportunity (PublicHERO) Initiatives to recruit, retain, educate and train the next generation of public health workers needed to keep California’s promise of health equity.
The joint budget plan is expected to be formally introduced and voted on by the full legislature soon, which will kick off final rounds of negotiations with Governor Newsom. The Governor's May Revise contains the $300M we called for as part of last year's budget, but fell short of dedicating additional funding for PublicHERO initiatives focused on workforce development. Stay tuned for updates on the PublicHERO initiatives in the Barbed Wire in the coming weeks. For more information, contact RCRC Policy Advocate, Sarah Dukett.