The Massachusetts Public Health Association released a statement in July about the new budget for the Department of Public Health (pdf). You’ll notice that most budget items increase:

The legislature and Governor Patrick have approved $548.7 million for the Department of Public Health (DPH) in the Fiscal Year 2008 budget. This is $74.4 million (16 percent) higher than the basic FY07 DPH budget passed by the legislature a year ago. It is $31.6 million (6 percent) higher than the total currently available for FY07, including supplemental funding that was approved for use in FY07.

Here’s a list of some of the changes:

•Universal Immunizations (4580-1000): $12 million added (33 percent increase) for the new rotavirus and HCV pediatric vaccines and to cover inflationary costs of existing pediatric and adult vaccines programs.
•Early Intervention Services (4513-1020): $5.3 million added (16 percent increase).
•Smoking Prevention and Cessation (4590-0300): $4.5 million added (55 percent increase), bringing total funding to $12.75 million in FY08.
•Public Health Hospitals (4590-0915): $4.4 million (3 percent) added to combined operating accounts.
•Suicide Prevention (4513-1026): $2.5 million added to triple current funding.
•Youth Violence Prevention (4590-1506): $2 million for a new program.
•Family Health Services (4513-1000): $1.8 million added (34 percent increase).
•Community Health Centers (4510-0110): $1.7 million added (30 percent increase).
•Teen Pregnancy Prevention (4530-9000): $998,000 added (33 percent increase).
•Environmental Health Services (4510-0600): $480,000 added (14 percent increase), with earmarks requiring the hiring of new food safety and indoor air quality inspectors.

Also, the state lab–the institution that keeps track of disease outbreaks and antibiotic resistance–received a desperately needed funding increase.
This didn’t happen under our Republican governor, Mitt Romney. He did such a great job for Massachusetts, imagine what he could do to the whole country….