Inspector General: CDC appears to have encouraged use of federal funds for illegal lobbying

Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General, Dept. of Health and Human Services

Federal stimulus grants may have been used illegally to lobby for changes in state and local laws at the encouragement of the Obama Administration. So says an "EARLY ALERT" report of the Office of Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Federal stimulus grants may have been used illegally to lobby for changes in state and local laws at the encouragement[1] of the Obama Administration. So says an "EARLY ALERT" report of the Office of Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The grants are part of the “Communities Putting Prevention to Work” (CPPW) program of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)—funded by both the 2009 “stimulus” bill (“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”) and the 2010 “Obamacare” bill.[2] The purpose of the program is to reduce obesity and tobacco usage. Already, $372 million has been awarded by the CPPW program.[3]

The IG’s report, which was recently released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, indicates that the IG is concerned that some of the reported successes of the grant program may have involved use of federal funds for illegal lobbying activities.[4]

Examples, though not given by the IG, are found in the Congressional correspondence that called for an investigation earlier this year.[5], [6]

In a letter to Secretary of HHS, Kathleen Sebelius, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) cited the following examples:

• CDC guidance informs grant awardees that they are “expected” to use a CDC issued list of strategies for making specific and enumerated changes to local laws.[7]


• California’s Department of Public Health was so bold as to announce that part of the $2.2 million grant it received would be used to “advance policy changes.”[8] Its quarterly report on its use of those funds appears to indicate that it used those funds to advance certain policy changes.[9]


• The Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) having received $1.5 million to advance anti-tobacco efforts, reported the results of its use of these funds:

three ordinances were passed…210 policy makers were contacted…31 ordinances were passed…[and] there were 26 community presentations made to local governments, and 149 policy makers were contacted…and 16 additional ordinances were passed this quarter, for a cumulative total of 47.[10]

And, while the IG has not yet concluded that actual illegality has occurred, the report finds it disconcerting that CDC “appear[s] to [have] authorize[d], or even encourage[d], grantees to use grant funds for impermissible lobbying.”[11]

Due to the scrutiny the program has received, the CDC has already made changes to its website. The CDC has a “Resources” page for the CPPW program. This page has links to documents such as “Model School Board Resolution.” But the page, updated on April 10, 2012 after initial congressional inquiries, now has the following disclaimers:

Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.

Reminder: CDC awardees are prohibited from using appropriated Federal funds for lobbying activities. Learn more about CDC's official guidance on lobbying restrictions.
An archived version of the page from October 18, 2010 shows that the disclaimer was not originally on the page.[12]

But the CPPW is not the only grant program under scrutiny. In a March 5, 2012 letter, Congressmen Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and Brett Guthrie (R-KY) called on Secretary Sebelius to investigate not only the CPPW grants, but also Obamacare’s Community Transformation Grants (CTG).[13] The CDC has already given out $107.2 million in CTG grants.[14] The IG report covers only CPPW and not CTG grants, but it suggests that it will also examine the CTG program for violations of the law.[15]

[2] Id. at 1.

[3] News Release, Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., HHS Awards $372 Million in Prevention and Wellness Grants to 44 Communities Around the Nation (Mar. 19, 2010) available at http://www.dhhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/03/20100319a.html.

[4] Letter from Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector Gen., Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., to Thomas R. Frieden, Director, Ctrs. for Disease Control & Prevention (June 29, 2012) at 1 available at http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/Media/file/PDFs/20120709HHSOIG.pdf.

[5] See Letter from Susan Collins, U.S. Senator for the State of Maine, to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, Dep’t of Health & Human Servs. (May 1, 2012) available at http://www.collins.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2012/5/senator-collins-to-secretary-sebelius-don-t-lobby-with-federal-funds.

[6] See Letter from Rep. Brett Guthrie and Rep. Ed Whitfield to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, Dep’t of Health & Human Servs. (Mar. 5, 2012) available at http://whitfield.house.gov/sites/whitfield.house.gov/files/CDC%20Whitfield-Guthrie%20%282%29.pdf.

[7] Letter from Susan Collins, U.S. Senator for the State of Maine, to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, Dep’t of Health & Human Servs. (May 1, 2012) available at http://www.collins.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2012/5/senator-collins-to-secretary-sebelius-don-t-lobby-with-federal-funds.

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Id.

[11] Supra note 1 at 3.

[12] Archived version of CDC Communities Putting Prevention to Work Resource page, Internet Archive Wayback Machine, (Oct. 18, 2010) http://web.archive.org/web/20101018053556/http://www.cdc.gov/CommunitiesPuttingPreventiontoWork/resources/index.htm.

[13] Letter from Rep. Brett Guthrie and Rep. Ed Whitfield to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, Dep’t of Health & Human Servs. (Mar. 5, 2012) available at http://whitfield.house.gov/sites/whitfield.house.gov/files/CDC%20Whitfield-Guthrie%20%282%29.pdf.

[14] Fact Sheet, Centers for Disease Control, Making Healthy Living Easier: Community Transformation Grants Program (June 8, 2012) available at http://www.cdc.gov/communitytransformation/pdf/ctg-factsheet.pdf.

[15] Supra note 1 at 4.