ESPHL PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

MINNESOTA
July 2014

Team Members:
Edward Ehlinger *
Susan Allen
Mona Dohman
Chris Eaton
Lucinda Jesson
Jeremy Miller
Manny Munson-Regala
Nicholas Zerwas
* Team Leader

For additional information, contact:

Manny Munson-Regala
Assistant Commissioner
Minnesota Department of Health
Manny.Munson-Regala@state.mn.us

States policies shape where we live, learn, work, and play, and impact the publics health. While there is evidence
for what works to improve populations health outcomes, many states lack robust partnerships capable of
mobilizing stakeholders, re-examining existing legal models, and innovating through statue and regulation. The
Excellence in State Public Health Law (ESPHL) program sought to strengthen the relationships among health
policy decision-makers in and among selected states and to increase the ability of these states to understand how
policy could improve the publics health. States determined their own priorities, and ESPHL did not predetermine states outcomes.

I'm finding that in public

health, we really need to
change the narrative about
what creates health. We have
to change it from medical care
and personal choices being the
main drivers to the fact that it
is policies and systems and the
environment that has the
greatest influence. Were doing
that work to change the
narrative about alcohol use in
our state.
-

Dr. Edward Ehlinger,

Commissioner,
Minnesota
Department of Health

Excessive alcohol use has a devastating impact on

individuals, families, communities, and the Minnesota
economy; these costs cut across state agencies and levels
of government. Over the past several years, the
Commissioner of the Department of Health has engaged
in a dialogue with a number of partners in other agencies,
the legislature, and the Governors office to see if there
are some useful approaches to dealing with the problem
of binge drinking that specifically make sense for
Minnesota. Building on these conversations, the
Excellence in State Public Health Law (ESPHL)* program
provided a vehicle for the Minnesota team of
commissioners, state legislators, and policy directors in
the Governors office to accelerate the review of evidence
of effective interventions, learn from Minnesota residents
about their support of selected initiatives, discuss policy
priorities, and consider the political feasibility of initiatives
in an election year.
The team identified the project goal: reducing binge
drinking and its negative consequences in Minnesota
using policies that impact cost, availability, marketing,
drinking and driving, and treatment.

Within the first six months of the project, the team was quickly able to review the research on
effective policy interventions, use ESPHL technical assistance funds to conduct a statewide poll
of Minnesota residents about their support of selected initiatives, weigh the political feasibility
of various initiatives in an election year, and decide to focus on enhancing and expanding the
use of ignition interlock.
The Minnesota Team consisted of two senators (Chris Eaton and Jeremy Miller), two
representatives (Susan Allen and Nick Zerwas), the governor's legislative director (Jamie
Tincher), three commissioners (Ed Ehlinger, Department of Health, Lucinda Jesson, Department
of Human Services, and Mona Dohman, Department of Public Safety), and the Minnesota
Department of Health Assistant Commissioner (Manny Munson-Regala). The legislators were
evenly represented between Republicans and Democrats.
Our team members represented key state agencies impacted by binge drinking, and helped us
assemble a multi-disciplinary team with different agency perspectives:

ESPHL, a program of the Aspen Institute Justice & Society Program, was made possible by a grant from the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation.

Commissioner of Public Safety: law enforcement perspective, and part of the

Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths effort to lower traffic fatalities.
Commissioner of Human Services: the agency responsible for most of the
prevention, early identification, and treatment of substance abuse; it is also the
agency that most interacts with the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration.
Commissioner of Health: population-based approach to health, with a prevention
focus on policy, systems, and environmental change.
Governors Office: policy expertise.

One of our biggest successes was convening a diverse group of people who are knowledgeable
about alcohol abuse and the difficulties of changing policies within the political climate of
Minnesota. The team also had a much better idea of what public health can do, and hence will
be champions of public health issues in future years. We are already seeing the results of that.
Partnerships among team members have already facilitated collaborative work on other policy
issues. Moreover, partnerships with members of other ESPHL state teams have broadened our
views on how to address important public health problems.
The time at the ESPHL retreats and meetings strengthened collaborations among state agencies
and provided a unique opportunity to work with state legislators across party lines.
Public health problems like binge drinking are often complex and intractable, and the ESPHL
project provided a valuable opportunity to examine possible solutions, understand the unique
contributions of different state agencies, engage new
stakeholders, and develop new partnerships to work
on a solution (alcohol ignition interlock policy in this
ESPHL has applicability for almost
case), which often requires as sustained effort longer
any public policy that has some
than one year. Our work on utilizing ignition
health impactsand there are very
interlocks as part of a strategy to discourage binge
few public policies that dontso I
drinking will continue beyond the ESPHL cohort
think it should be replicated across
period.
the country on multiple issues.
-

Dr. Edward Ehlinger,

Commissioner, Minnesota
Department of Health

What the legislators on our ESPHL team learned

about other projects has helped shape their view of
public health beyond just the issue of binge drinking.
They have become better advocates of a public
health approach to other issues in our state.