Biden to Direct $7.4 Billion Toward State, Local Health Efforts

President Joe Biden will offer states $7.4 billion to recruit and hire public health workers to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and prepare for future health crises, the White House said Thursday.

The White House announced that about $4.4 billion from Biden’s American Rescue Plan, enacted in March, will allow state and local officials to hire public health specialists to work on issues such as contact tracing. Of that money, $500 million can be spent to hire school nurses, and $400 million is set aside to launch Public Health AmeriCorps.

Another $3 billion, administered by the Centers for Disease Control ...