Arizona Budget Coalition

Last January the Health Crisis Fund had $500,000 to respond to the outbreak of infectious diseases. Probably not enough to deal with swine flu, but better than nothing.

Apparently that's not what the Legislature thought when it passed a budget that abolished the fund. The 2-1-1 website that was designed to help the people access services during a public health crisis also lost $800,000 in funding.

Now the Governor is resisting calls to restore funding to respond to public health emergencies, as the Arizona Republic reports:

With fears growing of a new pandemic flu strain, Democratic legislative leaders said Brewer should restore the fund by tapping $185 million at her discretion as part of the state's allocation of federal stimulus funding.

"We believe that now is the absolutely important time to get this done," said Assistant House Minority Leader Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix.
...

Speaking with reporters Wednesday at the state health lab, Brewer said she's reluctant to restore the 2-1-1 or health-crisis funding. Arizona Department of Health Services officials have told the Governor's Office that they have the resources needed to respond to the flu threat.