PI Action alerts & updates ... 2002
Congress Unable To Pass Appropriations Bill
Temporary Spending Bill Continues the ADAP Crisis
Thank you to everyone who has responded to “SAVE ADAP”
alerts in the past few months. Whether you wrote a letter, made
a phone call, met with your legislators in your district, and/or
helped spread the word to others, you have helped make sure our
elected representatives are aware of the crisis in the AIDS Drug
Assistance Program and the need for adequate funding.
We wanted to give everyone an update on appropriations for Fiscal
Year 2003. Typically, this process is supposed to be done by October
1st, as that is the first day of the Fiscal Year. However, as has
been increasingly the case, Congress was unable to finish its work
on appropriations by this date, and had to pass a “continuing
resolution”, or a temporary spending bill, to keep programs
funded until it can pass a final appropriations bill.
This is the status of the current appropriations process. The Labor-Health
and Human Services (Labor-HHS) Appropriations bill, which funds
most HIV/AIDS programs including ADAP was not passed by the Senate
after being approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The
House of Representatives did not even begin its process. So, since
October 1st, HIV/AIDS programs have been funded through a series
of temporary spending bills. The latest continuing resolution funds
programs until mid-November, so no action will be taken until after
the elections.
This is of huge concern because these programs, including ADAP,
are “flat-funded” in these continuing resolutions. In
other words, they are being funded at last year’s levels since
Congress has not yet approved any increases. Since many state ADAPs
are already in a fiscal crisis, the lack of an increase or the ability
to plan for an increase is causing further problems. According to
the National Association of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
(NASTAD), there are twelve states/territories with access restrictions,
including limiting enrollment in the program or cutting back on
availability of treatments. These states include Alabama, Arkansas,
Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, South
Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Washington, and Guam. Demand for the program
is at an all-time high, so flat funding spells disaster.
What can you do?
Congress has adjourned through the elections. All members of the
House of Representatives and one-third of the U.S. Senate are up
for re-election, so many of your representatives—and those
who want to replace them—are out in the community at town
meetings and campaign events. Now is a great time to address Congress’
failure to pass an appropriations bill and the impact of that lack
of action on HIV/AIDS programs in general, and ADAP in particular.
Ask all candidates what their plans are for ensuring that a final
appropriations bill is passed as soon as possible, and tell them
that you expect them to support the highest possible funding for
HIV/AIDS programs, including a $162 million increase for ADAP.
These dynamics also make it more urgent than ever for everyone
to get out and vote this year and to cast their votes for candidates
for both federal and state offices who are most likely to do something
about the crisis in health care in this country. We suggest putting
candidates on the spot by asking them publicly about HIV/AIDS programs
like ADAP and about their plans for dealing with the growing problem
of the uninsured and underinsured in America.
An excellent nonpartisan resource for learning more about elections
in your area and where the candidates stand on key issues is Project
Vote Smart, www.vote-smart.org.
Thank you for your continued hard work on this year! Look for future
updates and alerts as this process moves forward.
Bill Arnold (DC)
202-588-1775
weaids@tiicann.org
Jean-Michel Brevelle (Maryland)
301-890-5132
jmbrevelle@earthlink.net
Steve Carroll (Oregon)
503-288-6582
stevecarroll@attbi.com
Lei Chou (New York)
TheAccessProject@aol.com
Ryan Clary (California)
415-558-8669 x224
rclary@projectinform.org
Mark Garrett (Washington)
cruisingu@msn.com
Sue Gibson (Texas)
suegibson@nova1.net
Kathie Hiers (Alabama)
205-324-9822 ext. 331
Kathie@aidsalabama.org
David Munar (Illinois)
312-922-2322
dmunar@aidschicago.org
Robert O’Brien (Pennsylvania)
215-803-5181
robrien@temple.edu
Jerry Spillman (California)
gspillman@earthlink.net
