Relates to the appropriation to the Department of Health and Welfare for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.

This is the FY 2023 original appropriation bill for the Department of Health and Welfare's Division of Public Health. It appropriates a total of $217,203,800 and caps the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions at 259.02. For benefit costs, the bill increases the appropriated amount for health insurance by $850 to $12,500 per eligible full time FTP, includes a one-year holiday of unemployment insurance, and adjusts workers’ compensation amounts. The bill also provides funding for permanent employees for the equivalent of a 3% salary structure shift and provides $1.25 per hour per eligible employee to be distributed based on merit for change in employee compensation. The bill funds thirteen line items, which provide additional funds for additional staffing at vital records; health disparities funding; vital records modernization; epidemiologic response capacity; Small Hospital improvement Plans; bioinformatics capacity; confinement facilities testing; public health workforce; prevention of infectious diseases; smoking cessation funding; EMS ambulance funding; youth smoking and vaping prevention programs; and home visiting grants. Also included in this bill is a onetime FY 2022 supplemental, which provides additional funding for laboratory capacity building at the state laboratory. DISCLAIMER: This statement of purpose and