This month, Getting to Zero Illinois (GTZ-IL) and AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) awarded $200,000 to community-based organizations implementing strategies to end the HIV epidemic by 2030. The pool of grants will support goals and alignment with the statewide plan. Each organization will receive an award from $20,000-$40,000 in addition to workforce training and technical assistance. Six of...
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By Omar Martínez González, Sr. Manager, Policy & Advocacy
CHICAGO, IL — AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) celebrates Friday’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill cleared the Senate last week and is headed to President Biden for his signature. AFC cheers the provisions that will allow the federal...
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By Omar Martínez González
CHICAGO, IL — On Monday the U.S. House of Representatives , led by New York Congressman Jerry Nadler (NY-10), delivered a letter to President Biden, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Rochelle Walensky requesting...
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By Omar Martínez González, Senior Manager, Policy & Advocacy
Photo credited to Omar Martínez González
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) issued a devastating blow to the right of women and pregnant people to access safe abortion services. Not only did it give Mississippi the green light to enforce its harmful 15-week...
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By Omar Martínez González, Senior Manager, Policy & Advocacy
Photo credited to Gayatri Malhotra
AFC is deeply disturbed by last night's revelation of the U.S. Supreme Court's draft decision to upend Roe v. Wade, the 49-year-old precedent that protects a woman's right to choose when to start a family. This decision will disproportionately...
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By Timothy S. Jackson
Concluding a flurry of activity, the 2022 Spring Session of the 102nd Illinois General Assembly was gaveled to adjournment just before sunrise on Saturday, April 9, 2022. Despite an abbreviated session due to primary elections just around the corner, legislators approved a $46 billion Fiscal Year 2023 budget that includes investments in public safety and mental...
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By Indigo Quashie
SPRINGFIELD – On April 9 th , 2022, The GTZ Omnibus Bill was added into the HB900 Illinois State Budget by the Illinois General Assembly with a $10 million dollar investment in Getting to Zero Illinois (GTZ-IL) ! Passed by the Illinois House of Representatives with a vote of 72-42, this budget allotment is historic because this is the most funding AFC and...
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By Indigo Quashie
SPRINGFIELD – HB4343, Medicaid Omnibus & Healthy Illinois for All passed out of the Illinois House of Representatives early morning on April 9 th , 2022 with a vote of 71-42. This bill calls for the expansion of Medicaid coverage across Illinois, as well as reducing Medicaid churn.
“COVID-19 has lifted the veil on the importance of access...
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By Indigo Quashie
SPRINGFIELD – On April 7 th , 2022, HB4430: Increasing Access to PrEP & PEP Through Community Pharmacies was passed by the Illinois House with a vote of 72-30! Sponsored by State Representative Kelly M. Cassidy (D-Chicago), HB4430 calls for the pharmaceutical dispensation of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP),...
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By Indigo Quashie
SPRINGFIELD—On March 31 st , 2022, SB3490: Disrupting Disparities for LGBTQ+ Older Adults and Older Adults Living With HIV passed out of the Illinois House of Representatives with a bipartisan vote of 71-32 ! This is the first of AIDS Foundation Chicago’s (AFC) 2022 policy priorities to pass both chambers during this year’s state legislative...
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