Letters from State Officials to Secretary Azar
Officials from Seven States Demand Trump Administration Use Its Available Powers to Make Medicines Affordable
AR Letter to Azar (3 Officials) DE Minor-Brown Letter ID McCrostie Letter ID Davis Letter ID Smith Letter ID Wintrow Letter ID Jordan Letter IL Hadden Letter IL Martin Letter IL Guzzardi Letter IL Steans Letter ME Millett Letter WI Reimer Letter WI Sinicki Letter WI Sargent Letter WI Clancy Letter WI Maldonado Letter WI Billings Letter WI Hansen Letter WI Schreiber Letter WI Carpenter Letter WI Johnson Letter WI Smith Letter IA Giddens Letter IA Grooters Letter IA Morrissey Letter IA Schwartz Letter
On July 9, 2020, Public Citizen, the Action Center on Race & the Economy, the Center for Popular Democracy, People’s Action, Social Security Works and other groups delivered 27 letters signed by 29 local and state governmental officials demanding U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar use the government’s executive authority to authorize generic competition and mandate widespread manufacturing for forthcoming COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. See attached for the letters (PDFs).
Table 1 – Letters Sent By Local and State Officials
| Letter # | Official’s Name | Official’s Title | State |
| 1 | Donna Massey | Justice of Peace, District 6 | AR |
| Lloyd A. Halcomb, Jr. | Pine Bluff City Council Member, Ward 1 | AR | |
| Bruce Lockett | Pine Bluff City Council Member, Ward 4 | AR | |
| 2 | Melissa Minor-Brown, MSN, RN | State Representative, District 17 | DE |
| 3 | Chris Schwartz | Black Hawk Country Supervisor | IA |
| 4 | Pat Morrissey | Waterloo City Council Member, Ward 3 | IA |
| 5 | Ross Grooters | Pleasant Hill City Council Member | IA |
| 6 | Eric Giddens | State Senator, District 30 | IA |
| 7 | Maryanne Jordan | State Senator, District 17 | ID |
| 8 | Melissa Wintrow | State Representative, District 19 | ID |
| 9 | Muffy Davis | State Representative, District 26 | ID |
| 10 | John McCrostie | State Representative, District 16 | ID |
| 11 | Elaine Smith | State Representative, District 29; House Minority Caucus Chair | ID |
| 12 | Heather Steans | State Senator, District 7 | IL |
| 13 | Will Guzzardi | State Representative, District 39 | IL |
| 14 | Matthew J. Martin | Alderman, Chicago’s 47th Ward | IL |
| 15 | Maria E. Hadden | Alderman, Chicago’s 49th Ward | IL |
| 16 | Rebecca J. Millett | State Senator, District 29 | ME |
| 17 | Jeff Smith | State Senator, District 31 | WI |
| 18 | LaTonya Johnson | State Senator, District 6 | WI |
| 19 | Tim Carpenter | State Senator, District 3 | WI |
| 20 | Leah Schreiber Johnson | Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District School Board Member | WI |
| 21 | Robert Hansen | Greenfield School Board Clerk | WI |
| 22 | Jill Billings | State Representative, 95th Assembly District | WI |
| 23 | Melissa Sargent | State Representative, 48th Assembly District | WI |
| 24 | Christine Sinicki | State Representative, 20th Assembly District | WI |
| 25 | Daniel Riemer | State Representative, 7th Assembly District | WI |
| 26 | Fabi Maldonado | Racine County Board Supervisor | WI |
| 27 | Ryan Clancy | Milwaukee County Supervisor | WI |