Clark County staff present draft resolution urging state to maintain foundational public health funding

Jordan Bogie, senior policy analyst for Clark County, presented a draft resolution requested by the Association of Local Public Health Officials asking the county to urge the state to maintain funding for foundational public health services. "This is the resolution that I spoke with counsel about last week during policy updates," Bogie told the council, adding the draft would be read at the Feb. 17 council meeting and shared with legislative staff.

Bogie said the request came through WASOLFO (a subset of WASAC, the Association of Counties) and described options to include a line directing excise tax revenue from vapor and tobacco product reclassification toward public health interventions. "Since this is a regressive tax, an excise tax on vapor and tobacco products, we should be using those funds to target public health interventions," Bogie said, referencing a suggested edit from Councilor Young.

Council discussed adding language that calls out expenses tied to communicable disease responses; a council member noted a previous measles response cost of about $3,000,000 and said including such examples would strengthen the resolution. Bogie said he could add further detail about immunization, disease investigation and outreach work in the whereas clauses if council wanted.

No formal vote was taken; staff indicated the resolution would be returned for a formal reading and possible adoption on Feb. 17. The council signaled support for staff to coordinate with legislative contacts about the county's position on funding for foundational public health services.