Dear Friends,

Thanks to your efforts, 18 senators signed onto a “Dear Colleague” letter requesting support for a $30-million appropriation in fiscal year 2019 for the National Asthma Control Program (NACP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This letter was circulated by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and delivered last week to the Senate Appropriations Committee.  If your senator signed on, please be sure to thank them.

Our call to action last month resulted in 182 advocates contacting their senators to urge them to sign onto the letter. Securing the support of 18 senators would not have been possible without the tremendous grassroots efforts of you and your friends and family in the asthma and allergy community!

However, our work is far from done. Keep in mind that the administration’s budget for fiscal year 2019 again includes a proposed $4-million cut to the NACP, a reduction of 13.8 percent below the amount appropriated for fiscal year 2018. Reversing these proposed cuts, with a slight increase to $30 million, will allow the NACP to continue to meet the needs of funded states and allow for better surveillance, management and treatment of asthma.

Next month, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will begin “marking up” their versions of the fiscal year 2019 appropriations bills, including the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education funding bill that will include a funding level for the NACP. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America will continue to work with our congressional champions and partners in this effort – American Lung Association, CDC Coalition and American Public Health Association – in advocating before Congress to protect and increase funding for the NACP.

Thanks again for your advocacy! 

Kenneth Mendez
AAFA's President and CEO