The year 2015 ushers in significant changes in political leadership in Illinois, with Governor Bruce Rauner taking office as the state’s first Republican chief executive officer in 12 years. He has proposed a reckless budget with devastating cuts to HIV funding and Medicaid, and supportive housing is under attack.
In the midst of these troubling changes, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is committed to continuing, creating and advocating for sound HIV policy. In this vein, we have released our 2015-2016 policy priorities. These priorities were formed in consultation with community members across the state, and outline the focus of our legislative advocacy and policy work for the coming years.
Policy and legislative priorities include:
- Protection of funding and support of HIV prevention and care services;
- Continued promotion and support of the implementation of health reform in Illinois;
- Support for legislation, which reduces the cost of HIV medication; and
- Maintenance of state funding for mental health and substance use programs and services.
You can read the full list of policy priorities here.
Advocacy for and support of these issues is more important now than ever. Governor Rauner has proposed the most destructive budget that the HIV community has seen in years. It contains a $1.6 billion cut to Medicaid, a $6 million slash to HIV funding and a 66% reduction to the African American HIV/AIDS Response Fund.
Join us for our annual Advocacy Days and tell your legislators they must not support this budget! Details and registration information for all three 2015 Advocacy Days can be found here.
