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December 2004 At NORA Meeting, Speaker Addresses the Future of HIV Funding On Monday, December 13, the National Organizations Responding to AIDS (NORA) coalition, for which AIDS Action serves as the convener, held its monthly meeting. The December meeting featured a presentation on the federal funding outlook for HIV and other health programs, given by Adrienne Hallett, Professional Staff of the Labor, HHS and Education (Labor-HHS) Subcommittee, Senate Appropriations Committee. As a congressional staffer who works on the Labor-HHS appropriations bill—which contains the funding for the majority of domestic HIV programs—Ms. Hallett is well versed in HIV programs and funding. Ms. Hallett began by introducing the context for her presentation which focused on the outlook for future HIV funding. According to Ms. Hallett, the U.S. budget deficit has now reached $7.5 trillion. Further, to finance the war in Iraq, the federal government is spending an average of $3.8 billion per month, and the amount that is increasing “exponentially.” At $4.7 billion, war costs in November exceeded this monthly average by $1.1 billion. Ms. Hallett explained that such costs are greatly contributing to our deficit, and in order to reduce the debt, Members of Congress are looking to cut domestic programs—including those for health in general and HIV in particular. Though cuts in domestic spending “won’t even make a dent” in the deficit, according to Ms. Hallett, they remain the key strategy for lowering the national debt. Ms. Hallett discussed prospects for the Ryan White CARE Act. She called the success of CARE Act programs both “wonderful and challenging.” What is “wonderful” is that people are living longer with HIV. As a result, they are receiving quality care for extended periods of time through Ryan White services, she explained. The “challenge” is that this greater need for services creates a need for increased funding. But program success can often diminish Congressional commitment—especially in fiscally tight times. Further, Ms. Hallett observed that HIV programs are expensive, which means it takes a lot of money to make a difference. Consequently, Members of Congress who are interested in supporting funding increases that lead to sweeping improvements may bypass HIV programs and look instead to smaller programs where an appreciable impact can be realized with less money. Ms. Hallett completed her presentation by recommending a particular advocacy strategy for the fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations cycle. She advised advocates to push for what’s called a “stand alone” bill. In other words, HIV advocates should advocate for the Labor-HHS appropriations bill (and any other bill of interest, for that matter) to be voted on individually rather than voting on it in combination with other bills as an “omnibus” spending package, like the one that passed for FY 2005. The reason for recommending this strategy, she explained, is that it is more difficult to institute a rescission, or an across-the-board cut, on bills passed individually than on a single bill that consolidates many bills into one. NORA members will be actively involved in lobbying for funding increases in HIV programs for FY 2006. To see how HIV programs fared in current fiscal year funding, see AIDS Action’s federal funding chart, available at http://www.aidsaction.org. For more information about NORA, e-mail Jessica Tytel at jtytel@aidsaction.org. |
