| Analysis on the Governor's 2010-2011 Budget and Cuts to HIV/AIDS
The Governor's budget proposes to cut Syringe Exchange and AIDS prevention services by 30% in the Department of Public Health's budget. The cuts to AIDS Services places us at the 1997 funding level; and the cuts to SEP fall below funding levels prior to 1995. During that same time period, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the state has doubled. We have publicly stated that we were willing to share the burden of the state's budget crisis, but not to do so disproportionately. A 30% cut is far too deep for us to be able to sustain the tremendous HIV prevention work offered across the state.
An analysis of those cuts is below. There are other cuts, particularly in the area of health care (e.g. Medicaid, SAGA) and changes to programs that cover the cost of mental health and other medications that will also impact people living with HIV/AIDS. We will send out the details of those cuts once their impact is analyzed.
| |
Appropriated
SFY 2009-2010 |
Proposed
SFY 2010-2011 |
+/- |
% |
| Department of Public Health: |
| AIDS Services |
$4,952,598 |
$3,466,819 |
($1,485,779) |
30% |
| Syringe Exchange |
$455,072 |
$318,550 |
($136,522) |
30% |
| Department of Social Services: |
| CADAP |
$606,678 |
$606,678 |
- |
- |
| Housing/Homeless |
$47,306,657 |
$44,894,782 |
($2,411,875) |
5% |
(This includes AIDS housing. We believe that this cut operationalizes the cuts made last year.)
Delay implementation of the HIV/AIDS Waiver
This home and community-based services waiver that would provide services beyond what Medicaid offers (e.g. case management, homemaker, personal care assistance, adult day health and respite) for up to 100 PLWHA.
Action Steps:
- Attend the public hearings on the budget! DSS is tentatively scheduled for the evening of February 11th and DPH for the evening of February 18th. We will need good turnout of PLWHA and providers. All should wear their AIDS Awareness T-shirts so that we stand together as a unified effort.
- Reply to AIDS LIFE Campaign e-mail request for information on the impact of the proposed cuts! Under a separate email, Shawn will be requesting information from you as to what impact these cuts will have on your programs (e.g. staff and services lost, number of clients who will no longer be able to access those services, etc.) - Please take the time to respond to that request. We will need to quantify what these cuts will mean in very concrete terms.
- Contact your legislators to let them know how these cuts will impact you. For example, if you have an SEP, what would a 30% cut look like in your agency? Click here to find your legislator.
This is only the beginning of the budget process. We will need to respond quickly and strongly as things happen, and will need maximum participation from all of you, your boards, consumers and colleagues. As always, thanks for all you do. Contact Shawn at 860.761.6699 or Leif at 203.258.3718 should you have questions.
Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009
We are pleased to announce that the President has not only signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 (click here to read his remarks) but has announced that the travel ban is lifted and that all HIV+ people will be able to freely travel into the U.S. early in 2010. read more
Thanks to everyone's amazing work and advocacy on these issues!!
Please take a moment to call CT's congressional delegation to thank them for their support. (numbers below) We want to especially thank Senator Dodd for his steadfast leadership on getting the Ryan White Act reauthorized.
The Senator's staffer, Tamar Magarik-Haro who was a great advocate and support through all of this wanted me to pass along this message to you:
"I just wanted to tell you that I was incredibly fortunate and was invited to the White House for the Ryan White bill signing. The ceremony is in about an hour. I just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you and all the clients and fellow advocates you work with. I will be thinking about them when this bill gets signed and how much meeting them over the years and hearing their stories have meant to me. Thank you for supporting me and my boss throughout all of this. Please let folks you work with know that I'm thinking about them and hope that this bill does a lot of good for them."
- Senator Chris Dodd: 202-224-2823
- Senator Joe Lieberman: 202-224-4041
- Congressman Jim Himes: 202-225-5541
- Congressman John Larson: 202-225-2265
- Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro: 202-225-3661
- Congressman Chris Murphy: 202-225-4476
- Congressman Joe Courtney: 202-225-2076
About the AIDS LIFE Campaign (ALC)
The AIDS LIFE (Legislative Initiative and Funding Effort) Campaign - a program of the CT AIDS Resource Coalition - is Connecticut's only statewide group that focuses solely on all of the policy-related issues impacting people living with and at high risk for HIV/AIDS - from prevention and education, including needle exchange; to supportive services; to health care, such as Medicaid and CADAP; to housing.
In addition to our advocacy work at the legislature, members of the AIDS LIFE Campaign convene meetings with key state departments such as the Department of Public Health and the Department of Social Services to work with them on a whole host of issues ranging from contracts and timely payments, CADAP, Medicaid changes (e.g. prescription and provider visit co-pays), as well as federal issues such as the HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS) housing program, Ryan White funds, and other pertinent topics that arise.
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