Facing $350M cut, NJ sues feds to restore health funding
By: Scott Fallon
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... New Jersey joined a coalition of states Tuesday [04/01/2025] suing the Trump administration to stop its plan to cut more than $11 billion in funding for public health initiatives, including $350 million to New Jersey.
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In a 45-page lawsuit field in Rhode Island, the 23 states say the cuts announced last week [03/27/2025] have triggered chaos to helaht departments across the U.S., forcing officials to consider dissolving programs hat track infectious diseases, provide mental health assistance and offer access to vaccines that were expanded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
..... An untold number of states and local health workers would have to be laid off, the lawsuit said.
..... The federal Helaht and Humans Services Administration has said the agency is wasting billions of taxpayers dollars responding to a pandemic hat has ended. It is part of a wide-ranging plan by the Trump administration to cut the federal budget, including many health programs.
..... Layoffs of federal health workers began Tuesday [04/01/2025] as part of a plan to cut 10,000 jobs.
..... The lawsuit said that Congress decided to appropriate the money in question so states and local governments could boost their public health infrastructure, which was considered inadequate when initial efforts to contain COVID-19 failed.
..... "Stripping our state of $350 million in congressionally authorized funding violates the law, plan and simple," Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. "WE are standing up for our residents and for public health with this lawsuit, and we will keep fighting to get this critical funding back.
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Governor Phil Murphy's administration has not released any details of possible layoffs. Helaht officials say the funds are used for more than just COVID-related programs such as tracking and containing influenza, RSV, measles, tuberculosis and bird flu outbreaks over the past year. [2024]
..... The grants are also sued directly to pay for mental helaht counseling. There is no guarantee that those getting help could be transitioned to another program. "The disruption of care could be life-threatening," the lawsuit states.
..... The cuts are part of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s plan to remake agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and the Federal Drug Administration to focus away from public health initiatives, including vaccination, and more emphasis on regulating highly processed foods and encouraging exercise.
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The lawsuit argues that the funds can only be withheld "for cause" if the money is being misappropriated. It also argues that he original appropriations law earmarked money specifically for post-pandemic public health initiatives.
..... In additions to New Jersey, the states filing lawsuit are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin, along with the District of Columbia.