Whitty’s draft funding recommendation to protect disease‑intervention work to return for August review

Commissioner Jacob Whitty presented a draft recommendation aimed at shielding core public‑health duties — specifically disease‑intervention specialists and follow‑up and surveillance work — from potential federal grant losses by ensuring those functions are explicitly included in Austin Public Health and Travis County annual budgets.

Whitty said the recommendation had not changed since the previous meeting. A Travis County representative pointed out that the county already supports the cited program through an interlocal agreement (ILA) with the city of Austin and recommended leadership review of the draft language to avoid overstating the commission's role or overlapping existing agreements. "Travis County supports this program through an interlocal agreement with the city of Austin," the county official said, recommending the language be checked for potential conflicts with the ILA.

Commissioners agreed to have leadership and departmental staff review the draft language and to return the item for possible final approval in August. Committee members discussed whether inserting both Austin Public Health and Travis County by name was redundant and suggested refinements to clarify roles and funding responsibilities.

What happens next: Commissioners asked staff to route the draft to Director Stirrup and county leadership for review; the commission scheduled the item for August with the expectation of additional edits before forwarding to council or other bodies if needed.