Right now millions of dollars in emergency funding for life-saving HIV/AIDS programs are threatened by massive budget slashes—but you can take action to stop those cuts.
On World AIDS Day 2011, President Obama announced a $35 million emergency increase to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), as well as a $10 million increase to Ryan White Part C community health centers. These funds now face elimination in the continuing resolution that senators and representatives are currently negotiating in Washington, DC. (The continuing resolution is legislation that allows federal agencies and programs to continue to operate at current funding levels through a given fiscal year.)
In California, the elimination of these funds will result in a $7 million cut to ADAP—the largest cut to any state—as well as heavy losses to Ryan White Part C. That’s on top of the 5% sequestration cuts that will have a major impact on HIV/AIDS programs and services, such as testing, housing, and substance use treatment. Services in other states, like Georgia and Alabama, also stand to lose significant amounts of federal funding, which is particularly troubling as those services already receive little or no state or local support.
The Senate deadline to file language in an amendment to prevent these cuts is this Monday at 4:30 Eastern Time. Please contact your senators and representative today.Tell them to protect funding to ADAP and Ryan White Part C. Tell them real lives are at stake, and cutting resources for people who rely on life-saving HIV/AIDS services is dangerous policy.
Please share this post with your contacts on social media and through email. Let’s make our voices heard in Washington, DC.