All over the country, health programs are facing severe budget crises. Vital programs are slated for deep cuts and the human toll is hard to fathom. Tobacco control programs, like much of the work around chronic disease and prevention, have come under particularly heavy pressure. This publication is designed to be a resource for organizers, community groups, and public agencies at various levels of capacity working to build support for healthy budget priorities. This "kit" will help groups better understand the economic context in which budget cuts are taking place, develop strategic communications and organizing plans for approaching this issue, and gain tools and methods for researching state budget processes.
In developing this kit, we worked from three assumptions:
- It will require broad, multi-issue coalitions in each state to beat back these cuts, and these coalitions must be formed around our common interests
- We have to expose problems with the budget process as well as with budget spending priorities
- It will be important to go beyond defending our programs to posing alternatives, especially ways to increase revenues at the state level and increased matching funds at the federal level.
