Resources

 

OPPA encourages Ohio's prevention community to submit public comment on the White House Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) proposed rule to give White House appointees complete control to approve or cancel every grant program created by Congress, including the vast majority of dollars funding prevention and other behavioral health services in Ohio.

 

Key information and resources:

 

 

The proposed rule (includes details on each section, relevant to #2 in sample comment structure, below). To submit public comment, click on the blue Comment box on the upper left. You can also access the Comment portal at https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/OMB-2026-0034-0001.

 

Use Dr. Elizabeth Ginexi's 12-Slide Presentation (see slides 8-11) as a guide for structuring your comment. Other helpful guides to submitting public comment:

 

Infographic 

 

 

Below is a sample comment structure, but use your own words so your comment is unique. Repeatedly similar comments will not be considered as strongly.

 

Your comment can be as short as four sentences and as long as you wish.

 

Ask others -- family, friends, consumers, coalition members, colleagues, etc. -- to submit comment! Help them with the writing and submission. The proposed rule affects funding beyond behavioral health, including local infrastructure (e.g., water, bridges), social services (e.g., Meals on Wheels, daycare and pre-K services), and more, so it's not just a priority for the behavioral health community.

 

Sample comment structure (See slide 8):

 

1. Who you are: "I am a [prevention professional/coalition member/educator] at [a community-based prevention provider/school/county behavioral health authority] and work in [school-based prevention education/gambling prevention/suicide prevention.]

 

2. Which provision(s): "I am writing to oppose §200[XXX] (Insert section number(s); see slide 9), which would [brief plain-language description of what that section does]."

 

3. The concrete harm: "If this provision takes effect, our [prevention interventions/community-based efforts/school-based services] would [describe the harm]. Our [students/consumers/community] would [describe consequence(s)]."

 

4. Your request: "I request that §200.[XXX] not be [finalized/made final/approved.] I urge OMB to withdraw this rule in its entirety."

 

5. Sign?: You can submit your comment with your name, your name and organization -- consider whether your employer is ok with your agency/board included -- your name and role, or anonymously. Comments with at least your name are preferred, but an anonymous comment is better than no comment.

 

6. Copy your public comment before submitting and send it to your Representative in the U.S. House and to Ohio's U.S. Senators: Senator Bernie Moreno and Senator Jon Husted.