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Attorney General Aaron M. Frey today joined a coalition of 23 states’ attorneys general and the District of Columbia in filing a lawsuit in the District Court of Rhode Island against the US Department of Health & Human Services and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for abruptly and illegally terminating nearly $11 billion in critical public health grants to the states.
The grant terminations, which came with no warning or legally valid explanation, have quickly caused chaos for state health agencies that continue to rely on these critical funds for a wide range of urgent public health needs such as infectious disease management, fortifying emergency preparedness, providing mental health and substance abuse services, and modernizing public health infrastructure.
Maine stands to lose more than $91 milion from these cancellations by HHS. If the funding is not restored, vital state public health rograms and initiatives will have to be dissolved or disbanded, including programing impacting vacine distribution and disease monitoring and response and rural health services, among others. The HHS cuts threaten the urgent public health needs of states around the country at a time when emerging disease threats – such as measles and flu are on the rise, Attorney General Frey warned.
Congress authorized and approipriated new and increased funding for these grants in COVID-19 related legislation to support critical public health needs. anyof these grants are from specific programs created by Congress, suh as block grants to states for mental health, substance abuse and addiction services. Yet, with no legal authority or explanation, Secretary Kennedy’s HHS agencies on March 24 arbitrarily terminated these grants “for cause” effecitve immediately claiming that the pandemic is over and the grants are no longer necessary.
With this lawsuit, Attorney General Frey and the coaltion are seeking a temporary restraining order to invalidate Secretary Kennedy’s and HHS’ mass grant terminations in the suing states, arguing that the ac tions violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The states are also asking the court to prevent HHS from maintaining or reinstating the terminations and any agency actions implementing them.