Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards and Wisconsin Public Health Association announce “2017-2018 Friends of Public Health”

Designation bestowed on select group of legislators

The Wisconsin Public Health Association (WPHA) and the Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards (WALHDAB) today unveiled a list of state legislators selected as “Friends of Public Health” for the 2017-18 legislative session.

The 2017-18 “Friend of Public Health” recipients include the following legislators:

Rep. Mark Born                                  Rep. Rob Brooks                                Rep. Cindi Duchow

Rep. Mary Felzkowski                        Rep. John Jagler                                  Rep. Joel Kitchens

Rep. Scott Krug                                  Rep. Amy Loudenbeck                        Rep. Dave Murphy

Rep. Jeff Mursau                                Rep. Todd Novak                                Rep. John Nygren

Rep. Mike Rohrkaste                          Rep. Ken Skowronski                         Rep. John Spiros

Rep. Robin Vos                                   Rep. Dave Considine                          Rep. David Crowley

Rep. Deb Kolste                                  Rep. Daniel Riemer                             Rep. Katrina Shankland

Rep. Mark Spreitzer                            Rep. Lisa Subeck                                Rep. Chris Taylor

Rep. Don Vruwink                              Sen. Alberta Darling                            Sen. Howard Marklein

Sen. Jerry Petrowski                           Sen. Tom Tiffany                                Sen. Janet Bewley

Sen. Jon Erpenbach                             Sen. Tim Carpenter                             Sen. Dave Hansen

Sen. Lena Taylor                                 Sen. Bob Wirch

“This designation allows us to recognize legislators who supported bills that were important to local health officers. In particular, this includes those who supported dedicated state funding for communicable disease prevention, which was WALHDAB’s top legislative priority this past session,” said WALHDAB Co-Chair Linda Conlon.

“Dedicated state funding is a crucial step in protecting the public from the threats of communicable disease. We appreciate the chance to recognize legislators and their commitment to improving public health in communities across Wisconsin,” said WPHA Co-Chair Sue Kunferman.

In the 2017-2019 state budget, $500,000 of dedicated state funding was allocated to local health departments to combat and prevent the spread of communicable diseases. The funds can be used for reducing the burden of communicable diseases, increasing capacity to respond and follow up to instances of communicable diseases, training to increase communicable disease competencies, purchasing additional equipment and increasing awareness in the community.

Together, WPHA and WALHDAB represent over 1,200 public health professionals in communities across Wisconsin, striving to prevent, promote, and protect the citizens of the state. WPHA and WALHDAB actively engage in legislative advocacy and are committed to promoting a healthy population and workforce.