How public health advocates can use the August work period to turn local access into federal action.
Congress will spend much of August closer to home while fiscal year 2027 funding remains unsettled. Lawmakers still have major choices to make about the programs, research, workforce and public health systems communities rely on.
Those choices reach across public health. They affect overdose prevention, maternal health, tobacco control, injury prevention, infectious disease, global health and the infrastructure that helps communities respond when people need care.
During the House and Senate work periods, many members return to the states and districts they represent. For public health advocates, August is not a pause in the policy process. It is a chance to bring a clear request to the people who will pass a vote.
Start with who represents you
Connect with the office representing your community, no matter the party. The person across the table wants to understand what their district or state needs. Offer them a clear way to help.
Public health advocacy works best when it starts with a shared problem and a practical response. The issue might be overdose deaths, maternal mortality, youth tobacco use, traffic injuries, disease outbreaks or an underfunded health department. The basic question is the same. What can this office do that would improve the response?
Lead with the ask
The most common mistake is booking the meeting first and figuring out the point later. Do it the other way around.
Write one sentence: “we are asking Representative [Name] to do [specific thing].”
Ask the member to protect a named funding account, cosponsor a bill, sign a congressional letter, contact committee leaders or visit a program. Name the policy, program or funding line. Explain what the action would change.
For overdose prevention, the request might involve treatment funding, naloxone access or continuity of care. Another organization might ask Congress to fund disease surveillance or support the public health workforce.
The issue can change, the action steps should not.
A health or appropriations staffer may be better positioned than the member to move the request internally. If the ask involves funding, timing matters as much as the dollar figure. Our U.S. Federal Appropriations Action Guide explains where and when decisions happen and how to make a request that fits the moment.
Start early and coordinate locally
The House is scheduled to remain in a district work period through August 30. The Senate's tentative calendar lists a state work period from August 10 through September 11. This can shift but remember that local calendars fill quickly.
Before requesting a meeting, contact other organizations working on the issue. That may include health departments, health systems, researchers, community groups, professional associations or people directly affected by the policy.
Find out who is already reaching the office and where the requests are overlapping. Several local voices carrying a consistent message are harder to overlook than organizations arriving separately with competing lists.
Secure time on the schedule
Use house.gov to find your representative and your senators at senate.gov, then use the member's official website to locate the appropriate local office.
Call the scheduler or district director. Identify yourself as a constituent, explain what you want to discuss and offer two or three dates. Follow up by email with your organization, summarize your ask in one sentence and the names of anyone attending.
If a staffer attends instead of the member, the meeting still matters. Staff brief their bosses and help decide which requests move forward. The aide you meet this August could be the person working on your funding account, bill or policy issue next spring.
Use every appropriate opening
If you cannot secure a private meeting, go where the member already is. Watch official office websites and newsletters for town halls, mobile office hours and public events. Bring a small group and one clear question.
A site visit can make policy visible. Invite the office to a clinic, laboratory, health department, prevention program or community organization. Show what federal policy supports and what is at risk when resources fall short. And remember, be mindful of privacy when it applies to individuals sharing personal details.
You can also write a letter to the editor, invite staff to a public briefing or offer an educational activity. An overdose prevention organization might host a naloxone training. A research institution might demonstrate how federal grants support local jobs and scientific capacity. A health department might show how its surveillance system identifies emerging threats.
Whatever the setting, connect the experience to one decision the office can influence.
Bring the district into the room
National evidence establishes the scale of a public health problem. Local evidence shows an office who is affected.
Bring a few figures from a reliable source, then explain what the numbers mean for health services, families, schools, employers or the local workforce. Not every public health issue has an obvious county statistic. For national or global issues, build another local connection. Show how the policy affects a university, hospital, laboratory, business, research institution or emergency response system in the member's state.
Include local voices when people want to participate. A patient, parent, nurse, researcher, community health worker, peer specialist or person in recovery can explain what policy means beyond the numbers.
Because 2026 is an election year, keep official policy advocacy separate from campaign activity. Organizations exempt under section 501(c)(3) may conduct some lobbying within federal limits, but they may not support or oppose candidates.
Prepare, then follow up
Bring a one-page leave-behind with the ask at the top and a named contact at the bottom. Decide who will open, explain the local impact, handle the evidence and make the request.
In the room, make the ask out loud. Seek a yes, a no or a specific next step. Confirm who will review the request, what information the office needs and when you should follow up. Within 48 hours, send a thank-you that restates the ask and delivers anything promised.
The meeting is not the finish line. Track whether the request moves inside the office and what action comes next.
August offers something public health advocacy rarely gets. It places the people making national decisions in the communities that will live with them. Bring the evidence. Bring the people who know what is at stake. Most of all, bring the ask.
Congress will spend much of August closer to home while fiscal year 2027 funding remains unsettled. Lawmakers still have major choices to make about the programs, research, workforce and public health systems communities rely on. During the House and Senate work periods, many members return to the states and districts they represent. For public health advocates, August is not a pause in the policy process. It is a chance to bring a clear request to the people who will pass a vote.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule explaining how states must implement this new community engagement requirement. The requirement is the policy created by Congress. The CMS rule provides the framework states will use to determine who is affected, identify and verify exemptions and decide whether someone can enroll in or keep Medicaid coverage. The Global Health Advocacy Incubator’s (GHAI) Overdose Prevention Initiative submitted comments urging CMS to strengthen protections for people with substance use disorders.
Lower numbers do not mean the job is done. The 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) shows that opioid use disorder declined, but only one in six people who needed substance use treatment received it. That is not simply a troubling statistic. It is a warning that millions of people remain unable to reach proven, effective care.
