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San Francisco officials are being
urged to backfill millions of dollars in federal funding cuts to HIV and AIDS
services. Due to planned reductions in the city's share of Ryan White HIV/AIDS
Treatment Modernization Act funding, the city will experience a $2.1 million
cut to its AIDS programs and the loss of $1.88 million from CDC for HIV
prevention in the 2013/2014 fiscal budget that begins on July 1. San Francisco
hopes that it can absorb the $4 million loss with local resources.
District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener
stated that he believes it is doable. In 2012, Wiener worked with AIDS
advocates, his board colleagues, and Mayor Ed Lee's administration to restore
almost $7.5 million in federal HIV/AIDS funding cuts. Wiener declares, "We
are going to be working closely with the mayor's office to really try to make that
happen. But nothing is guaranteed." Wiener has called for a special
hearing before the board's budget committee, to take place the last week of
March, where they will discuss this year's pending HIV cuts. Lee needs to
present his proposed budget to the board by May 1; the final version is due
June 3, with the board having until July 31 to adopt the budget.
In 2012, during the 2-year budget
process, the city backfilled 50 percent of the federal HIV/AIDS funding cuts,
or roughly $3.5 million, for the upcoming fiscal year. Due to the enactment of
the federal sequestration cuts that took effect Friday, March 1, the full
amount of the budget hit this year to the city's programs for people living
with HIV/AIDS plus its HIV prevention programs remains unclear. It is estimated
the total impact to San Francisco’s budget will be $25 million because of the
across-the-board 5-percent sequester cut in federal programs. In a press
release, Lee stated, "I urge Congress to work with the president to stop
these blunt cuts to our critical services in our nation's cities."
Because of the sequestration cuts,
Wiener's office does not expect to know until sometime in May or June the total
amount needed to backfill HIV funding this year. Wiener explained,
"Depending on what the sequester cut is, it may raise the amount and makes
it more difficult. But we don't have that information yet." The board’s
budget and finance committee hearing about the HIV cuts will take place
Wednesday, March 27, at 1:00 p.m. in the legislative chambers, Room 250, at San
Francisco’s City Hall.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
