Governors form alliance to fill federal public health gaps amid cuts, shutdown

Editor's Note

Fifteen states and territories are banding together to rebuild the nation’s weakened public health infrastructure as federal support falters, CIDRAP October 17 reports from October 15 Wall Street Journal coverage. According to the news, Democratic governors have launched the Governors Public Health Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit effort to coordinate pandemic preparedness, infectious-disease tracking, vaccine stockpiling, and health guidance following sweeping funding and staffing cuts at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The move comes amid a prolonged government shutdown and what the governors describe as “assaults on science and medicine.” Representing roughly one-third of the US population, the founding members include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington. The group will be coordinated by the nonprofit GovAct and financed through philanthropic partnerships.

Per the article, the alliance marks the largest organized state-led response yet to recent federal health retrenchment. Governors including Kathy Hochul of New York and Gavin Newsom of California said the effort aims to “put science before politics” and protect communities against the consequences of diminished CDC capacity. The alliance also seeks to recruit bipartisan support, with Colorado Gov Jared Polis noting that joint state action could prove “more efficient and cost effective” than relying on Washington.

The states are already stepping in to maintain vaccine access, such as issuing orders that allow pharmacies to vaccinate without prescriptions despite narrower federal eligibility guidelines. Hawaii Gov Josh Green, a physician, warned that outbreaks of preventable diseases like measles and pertussis signal the growing danger of an underfunded national system. An HHS spokesperson defended the agency’s current approach, asserting its policies remain grounded in scientific rigor while criticizing past pandemic-era restrictions at the state level.