In the health sector, money continues to flow from the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF), originally created in the health reform legislation passed in FY 2010 (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). The PPHF was created in the same vein as its predecessor from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Prevention and Wellness Fund (PWF). However, while PWF represented a one-time appropriation with limited impact, the PPHF has real dollars committed to it for the next 10 years. In total, the PPHF represents a $15 billion investment over the next decade in community-wide efforts to prevent disease and manage chronic conditions by detecting and controlling them before they become severe and require costly interventions.

Goodbye, Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS). Hello, National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS). The HSAS, first implemented in response to the September 11th attacks, was designed to “inform all levels of government and local authority, as well as the public, to the current risk of terrorist acts.” As many of us know, the previous system was built on a five-level, color-coded threat condition indicator that attempted to assign a color according to the current threat level. Latent with unrealized benefits, this colorful experiment has officially ended as of April 2011. In its place we find DHS writing a new chapter of homeland security preparedness.

The education funding landscape continues to evolve, especially at the Federal level where the final 2011 budget deal resulted in the elimination of many highly-anticipated grant programs. Popular programs such as Smaller Learning Communities, Enhancing Education Through Technology, Improving Literacy Through School Libraries, and Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools will not be offered this year. Other programs, such as the Teaching American History Grant, will only be available for continuation awards (meaning no new grant applications will be funded).