NHPHA Mission
The Association’s mission is to champion public health policy and practice, promote health equity, enrich the workforce, and inspire others to improve the public’s health.
 
NHPHA Policy and Advocacy Program Mission
To champion public health policy and practice to improve the public’s health. 

Policy and Advocacy Program Strategic Goals & Activities
 
Goal 1: Develop and prioritize an annual state-level policy and legislative agenda that reflects best practices in public health and current priorities.
  • Develop an annual policy and legislative needs assessment to identify members' top policy and legislative priorities. The survey will be conducted annually to ensure that the Association's top legislative and policy priorities align with the membership needs and focus areas.
  • Organize at least one listening session to collect data and start a dialogue on the membership's top policy and legislative priorities.
  • Utilize data from the annual policy and legislative needs assessment and listening session (s) to develop an annual policy and legislative agenda and update the Association's top five priories. 
 
Goal 2: Communicate, educate, train, and support members and other stakeholders with critical health policy information and skills.
  • Organize an annual policy and legislative training series designed to train and educate its membership about the legislative process in NH and how a bill becomes a law. Also, these training series aim to excite and engage members in public health policy and advocacy efforts.
  • Add resources and tools to educate, engage, and support members and stakeholders with public health policy information and skills.
 
Goal 3: Advocate for evidence-based health policy based upon our policy agenda.
  • Advocate for evidence-based health policy by testifying on behalf of the Association and membership, direct lobbying, publishing op-eds on high-profile public health bills, organizing legislative dialogue sessions with legislators, and organizing one-on-one meetings with legislators.
  • Partner with stakeholders to launch joint advocacy efforts to advance the public health profession and workforce, health equity, and its public health policy, and the Association’s annual legislative agenda.
NH Legislative Session
During a legislative session, NHPHA studies and prioritizes legislative bills and compares them against the Association's legislative agenda to determine bills' priority levels and actions needed. Bills are selected and added to the tracking sheet based on the Association's annual policy and legislative agenda.
 
Priority Level Guidelines
The accordion below describes the priority levels and the Association's typical actions related to each priority level. All bills start with a monitoring status as NHPHA studies the bills, collects intel, discusses bills with partners, and reviews and aligns bills with NHPHA position statements. Once this process is complete, NHPHA will determine and publicize the Association's position as it relates to each bill.
LEVEL I
Applicable To
Bills with a direct and substantial impact to NHPHA or its annual policy and legislative priorities. For example, bills that has significant impact on the public health sector, public’s health specifically underserved and underrepresented populations or communities.
Typical Actions

Active Monitoring
  • Track bill’s progress from start to finish
  • Attend legislative hearings, work sessions, etc.
  • Watch for amendments
 
Direct engagement with Legislature, where warranted:
  • Testify (oral or written)
  • Sign-in at public hearing
  • Contact individual legislators
LEVEL II
Applicable To
Bills similar to those in Level 1, though not to the level that would qualify them for Level 1 priority. (Perhaps bills with a lesser or more indirect impact than Level 1 bills).
 
For example,
  • Bills creating study commissions on areas of interest where we may want to influence membership on the commission.
  • Bills that have broad impact across NH (urban, rural and tribal) public’s health. For example, RSV 2023 legislative bill.
 
Typical Actions
 
Active Monitoring
• Track bill’s progress from start to finish
• Attend legislative hearings, work sessions, etc.
• Watch for amendments
 
Note: Occasionally, Level 2 bills may also warrant direct engagement
with the Legislature.
LEVEL III
Applicable To
 
  • Related bills that do not rise to Level 1 or Level 2, but that we want to keep an eye on, mostly to see if any amendments arise that may make the bill a Level 1 or Level 2.
  • Bills that directly impact our partners’ areas of focus (For example, food security, housing security, mental health licensure, nurse certification, etc.) where NHPHA’s role is to support its partners’ legislative efforts.
  • Bills creating study committees /commissions on areas of interest.
Typical Actions
 
Active Monitoring
  • Watch for amendments*
  • Sign on joint advocacy letters or op-eds
  • Sign-in at public hearing
  • Submit online testimony when needed
 
* Notification if a proposed amendment would qualify the bill as a Level 1 or Level 2 priority.