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News Release

HHS ANNOUNCES BIOTERRORISM AID FOR STATES,
INCLUDING SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR ADVANCE FUNDING

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced $1.4 billion to be provided to states this year to help them enhance preparations against terrorism or other public health emergencies. At the same time, he announced special provisions that would allow states to obtain up to 20 percent of their 2003 funding immediately in order to support current activities, including smallpox vaccination for selected health workers and emergency responders.

"Once again, we are rapidly getting federal funding for public health preparedness into the hands of our states and hospitals," Secretary Thompson said. "Together, we've made strong progress in the past year to strengthen our public health systems, but this remains an ongoing endeavor. We will continue to work with our state and local partners to enhance our readiness and our ability to respond to public health emergencies. Our combined efforts will result in a stronger public health system to care for Americans in emergencies, whether it be an outbreak of the flu or a biological incident."

Secretary Thompson said that some states will need a share of their 2003 funds right away, while others will want to receive them later following the planning process -- that decision is left to each state. But HHS is prepared to rapidly release up to 20 percent of this year's funds to any states that request it for ongoing public health and hospital preparations.

Part of the funding ($870 million) supports enhancement of states' public health agencies, and the rest ($498 million) is provided to states to support hospital preparedness for possible bioterror or other mass casualty events.

The funding is part of a total of about $3.5 billion in HHS funding this year for bioterrorism preparedness, including research into potential bioterror disease agents and potential treatments and vaccines. The fiscal year 2003 funding is up from about $1.8 billion for these activities in 2002.

Secretary Thompson emphasized that HHS "will continue to ensure that funds provided to the states are spent effectively, to build the strongest possible protection and response capability for Americans." As in 2002, states will be required to submit work plans to HHS outlining their public health and hospital preparedness activities, including regional planning for areas that cross state lines.

While most funding for states will be released following approval of their plans, Secretary Thompson told governors their states could receive up to 20 percent of their fiscal year 2003 allocation immediately in order to:

• Support their smallpox vaccination activities for health workers and emergency responders.
• Support activities already approved in 2002 state plans which need additional resources now.
• Enhance or intensify critical activities already approved under last year's state plans.
• Accelerate timelines for these critical activities.

Secretary Thompson said that the states would be notified of the expedited application procedure for obtaining the advance portion in the coming week. The offer is similar to last year's action, in which states obtained 20 percent of their 2002 funding in order to jump-start state actions.

"This year we are much further along, and states that can use this advance funding productively are invited to do so," Secretary Thompson said.

Amounts to be provided this year to each state and territory, and to three metropolitan areas, are as follows. Amounts from HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are for public health systems preparedness, and amounts from HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) are for hospital preparedness.

Department of Health and Human Services Fiscal Year 2003 Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Hospital Preparedness Funding by State, Selected Municipalities, Territory
State	CDC	HRSA	Total to Jurisdiction
Alabama	$14,056,645	$7,762,315	$21,818,960
Alaska	$6,284,107	$1,958,803	$8,242,910
Arizona	$15,755,035	$9,030,450	$24,785,485
Arkansas	$10,461,043	$5,077,591	$15,538,634
California	$55,589,662	$38,773,726	$94,363,388
LA County	$24,531,232	$15,583,364	$40,114,596
Colorado	$13,979,790	$7,704,930	$21,684,720
Connecticut	$11,960,524	$6,197,207	$18,157,731
Delaware	$6,614,378	$2,205,406	$8,819,784
District of Columbia	$11,162,901	$2,868,302	$14,031,203
Florida	$38,181,999	$25,775,967	$63,957,966
Georgia	$22,034,847	$13,719,390	$35,754,237
Hawaii	$7,486,672	$2,856,721	$10,343,393
Idaho	$7,676,282	$2,998,297	$10,674,579
Illinois	$24,923,148	$15,875,995	$40,799,143
Chicago	$10,450,197	$5,069,493	$15,519,690
Indiana	$17,416,386	$10,270,929	$27,687,315
Iowa	$10,941,890	$5,436,624	$16,378,514
Kansas	$10,476,095	$5,088,830	$15,564,925
Kentucky	$13,245,815	$7,156,894	$20,402,709
Louisiana	$14,059,595	$7,764,518	$21,824,113
Maine	$7,603,092	$2,943,648	$10,546,740
Maryland	$15,915,365	$9,150,163	$25,065,528
Massachusetts	$17,972,524	$10,686,180	$28,658,704
Michigan	$25,278,581	$16,141,386	$41,419,967
Minnesota	$15,101,600	$8,542,551	$23,644,151
Mississippi	$10,795,501	$5,327,321	$16,122,822
Missouri	$16,424,504	$9,530,322	$25,954,826
Montana	$6,834,837	$2,370,015	$9,204,852
Nebraska	$8,485,811	$3,602,747	$12,088,558
Nevada	$9,251,219	$4,174,253	$13,425,472
New Hampshire	$7,552,202	$2,905,650	$10,457,852
New Jersey	$22,248,528	$13,878,940	$36,127,468
New Mexico	$8,710,551	$3,770,553	$12,481,104
New York	$27,794,404	$18,019,873	$45,814,277
New York City	$20,881,716	$12,858,383	$33,740,099
North Carolina	$21,630,396	$13,417,400	$35,047,796
North Dakota	$6,290,025	$1,963,221	$8,253,246
Ohio	$28,082,405	$18,234,914	$46,317,319
Oklahoma	$12,031,404	$6,250,131	$18,281,535
Oregon	$12,039,235	$6,255,978	$18,295,213
Pennsylvania	$29,933,326	$19,616,940	$49,550,266
Rhode Island	$7,147,493	$2,603,466	$9,750,959
South Carolina	$13,232,255	$7,146,769	$20,379,024
South Dakota	$6,536,811	$2,147,489	$8,684,300
Tennessee	$16,651,663	$9,699,934	$26,351,597
Texas	$48,310,184	$33,338,368	$81,648,552
Utah	$9,618,011	$4,448,125	$14,066,136
Vermont	$6,242,254	$1,927,552	$8,169,806
Virginia	$19,584,849	$11,890,053	$31,474,902
Washington	$17,146,134	$10,069,141	$27,215,275
West Virginia	$8,649,835	$3,725,218	$12,375,053
Wisconsin	$15,955,629	$9,180,227	$25,135,856
Wyoming	$6,000,636	$1,747,144	$7,747,780
Territory	CDC	HRSA	Total to Jurisdiction
American Samoa	$553,313	$601,511	$1,154,824
Guam	$625,215	$738,414	$1,363,629
Northern Marianas Islands	$559,296	$612,902	$1,172,198
Puerto Rico	$12,778,777	$6,808,171	$19,586,948
Virgin Islands (US)	$597,124	$684,929	$1,282,053
Freely Associated State	CDC	HRSA	Total to Jurisdiction
Federated States of Micronesia	$606,968	$703,671	$1,310,639
Marshall Islands	$542,911	$581,705	$1,124,616
Palau	$515,173	$528,890	$1,044,063
	CDC Total	HRSA Total	Grand Total
Grand Total	$870,000,000	$498,000,000	$1,368,000,000
Source for population figures: http://www.census.gov (All are July 1, 2001 numbers.)

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last Revised: March 20, 2003