Action Needed

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1. Call or email your senators to ask them to sign on to Sen. Reed’s (D-RI) letter, and call or email your representative to sign on to Rep. Budzinski’s (D-IL) letter requesting $1.13 billion in funding for the Section 317 Immunization program in the FY26 Labor-HHS appropriations bill.​​

 

2. In your message, give an example of why your state needs additional funding for vaccine program operations and infrastructure, and vaccine purchases. Sample talking points are included below.​

 

3. Your senators and representative may have signed on to the same letter last year. If so, thank their office and ask for their continued support by signing on again this year. The list of members who signed on last year is below.*

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Contacting a Congressional Office

 

• The U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 can connect you with your senators and representative. It is best to call the Washington office, not the local district office. Go online to www.senate.gov and www.house.gov and search by state and zip code to find your Members of Congress. From there, you can go to the member’s website to find an office number and email form. As you fill out these forms, be sure to use the provided talking points in the body of your email.    

 

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• When calling your senators or representative’s office, ask to speak with the staff person who handles Health and Human Services appropriations for the office (specifically the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)).   

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• When you reach the staffer, very briefly identify your professional affiliation and work related to immunization, make the ask, and provide a few talking points or a story specific to your state.
    

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Talking Points/Content for Email

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• I am contacting you to ask that the Senator/Representative support our request to provide $1.13 billion for the Section 317 Immunization program by signing on to a letter being circulated by Sen. Reed’s office/Rep. Budzinski’s office.

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• Vaccines are one of the greatest success stories in public health and are among the most cost-effective ways to prevent disease. Childhood immunizations between 1994 and 2023 prevented approximately 508 million illnesses, avoided more than 1 million deaths, and saved $540 billion in direct costs and nearly $2.7 trillion in societal costs. For each dollar invested in the U.S. childhood immunization program, there are nearly $11 in societal savings and $3 in direct medical savings.

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• The Section 317 program is the backbone of our nation’s public health infrastructure. It supports the evidence that informs our national immunization policy, provides a safety net to uninsured, low-income adults, monitors the safety of vaccines, educates providers, performs community outreach, and conducts surveillance, laboratory testing, and epidemiology to respond to disease outbreaks. During the 2019 measles outbreak, 317 funds supported local and state health departments in rapid response, public health communication, data gathering, and diagnostics.

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• In 2024, a total of 285 measles cases were reported across 30 states and DC, from 16 outbreaks, compared to 58 cases and 4 outbreaks reported in 2023. CDC estimates it can cost over $140,000 to contain one individual case of measles.

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• The U.S. spends nearly $27 billion annually to treat four vaccine-preventable illnesses – flu, pertussis, pneumococcal, and shingles.

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• The 2024-2025 flu season hasn’t peaked yet, but already 24 million have been ill, 310,000 hospitalized, and 13,000 dead from flu this season. This includes 57 pediatric deaths.​​

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• Providing $1.13 billion for the Section 317 program in FY26 would strengthen the backbone of our nation’s public health infrastructure, and ensure routine immunizations are restored and future preparedness is assured.

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• I can email you the staff contacts in Sen. Reed’s office/Rep. Budzinski’s office.

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Sen. Reed’s Dear Colleague Letter

Staff Contacts: Jill Boland Jill_Boland@reed.senate.gov and

Lauren Campbell lauren_campbell@reed.senate.gov

 

Rep. Budzinski’s Dear Colleague Letter

Staff Contacts: Omar Ibarra omar.ibarra@mail.house.gov and

Vinny Adamo vincent.adamo@mail.house.gov

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