Lobby Days 2010 was a huge success! The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) thanks the more than 230 AIDS advocates from around the state who came to Springfield by bus, car, and train to urge the Illinois General Assembly to fund the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, HIV prevention, care, and housing programs, and to raise taxes to protect these and other vital services. The event was the largest...
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Facing a grim state financial situation, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn Wednesday proposed a fiscal year 2011 state budget that underfunds HIV prevention and care services by nearly $22 million. The budget plan relies on a mix of cuts to programs, borrowing, and federal funding. Gov. Quinn also proposed a 1% tax increase to maintain education programs. Read more.. .
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Today, 66 organizations and over 400 individuals called on Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to fairly fund HIV services in the FY 11 state budget, to be introduced March 10. READ MORE .
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Governor Quinn released a preliminary budget outline on February 24 that highlights the consequences of the state budget disaster: $2 billion more in cuts to programs, a massive budget deficit, and $11 billion in unpaid bills. Taken together, the budget problems predict massive harm for vulnerable people, and particularly people with and at risk of HIV. READ MORE .
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Illinois AIDS advocates expect to have difficult conversations with lawmakers in Springfield this week. Unless immediate actions are taken to remedy the state's spiraling budget crisis, vital HIV/AIDS services -- along with the state's educational, healthcare, and human service systems assisting millions of vulnerable children, families, disabled, elderly, and chronically ill individuals -- will...
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Five Illinois State Representatives today sent a letter to Governor Pat Quinn requesting $44.06 million in HIV funding in the FY 2011 state budget, an increase of $18 million. Reps. Harry Osterman (D-Chicago), Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago), Deborah Graham (D-Chicago), Lisa Hernandez (D-Cicero) and Greg Harris (D-Chicago) are leading the funding request. READ MORE .
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Long-time AIDS advocate State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) convened on January 22, 2010 an Illinois House panel on the state’s HIV funding crisis. The AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Illinois Public Health Association coordinated testimony.
If additional state funding is not identified next fiscal year, advocates told the panel, hundreds of low-income people with HIV may be...
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The state has a $26 billion budget this year. Next fiscal year, which begins in July, there will only $13 billion available. Without revenue reform, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) will be on the brink of collapse beginning in July, 2010. The challenges ahead are daunting, and the consequences are extraordinary for people with or at risk of HIV. Read more.. .
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It’s this simple: State operations cost $26 billion per year, but the state is projected to collect revenue totaling just $13 billion in the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2010. Unless lawmakers identify new revenue to close this colossal deficit, hundreds of people will lose life-saving HIV medications, thousands will be denied essential services, and tens of thousands will go without prevention...
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CHICAGO (October 21, 2009)—Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley proposed today a 12 percent reduction in city-funded public health services in Chicago’s 2010 budget. While HIV programs were largely spared, the Mayor’s plan recommends a 4 percent funding reduction for HIV services.
“Communities under siege because of the recession need public health services now more than ever,"...
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