Variation in state public health funding formulas

State public health agencies use funding formulas as a part of their budget setting process to allocate funds to local public health agencies, among other strategies. Previous research has shown that a variety of stakeholders are involved in developing funding allocation strategies, including in developing statutory or regulatory mandates for funding formulas. This presentation will report on findings from a public health law research mapping study to identify and describe funding formulas mandated by state statutes or regulations. We used data from an online survey conducted by Ogden et al. in winter 2009 in collaboration with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. The final sample included 39 states and the District of Columbia. Survey respondents were asked to identify whether or not the funding formula they identified is specified legally, and if so, if the formula is specified in state statute, regulation, or other. Survey results show that a minority of states specifies their funding formulas legally through state statutes, regulations, and other means. We used these results in addition to a systematic keyword search using LexisNexis to identify and analyze legally mandated state funding formulas. Variation and similarities in funding formulas will be discussed, including frequency of use of mandated funding formulas across programmatic areas and states and comparisons of formula strategies.