With only eight
full legislative days left for Congress before the current continuing
resolution (CR) expires on November 21, lawmakers have still yet to reach a
deal for funding the federal government in 2020. Disagreements on funding
levels – particularly for contentious, partisan priorities such as the
president’s border wall – remain; the necessity of a further CR, funding the
government at extended fiscal year 2019 levels, is highly likely, with a new
expiration date to be set sometime between mid and late December.
Last week, the Senate
passed the
first of their funding bills in a “minibus” containing funding for the
Agriculture-FDA, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, and
Transportation-Housing & Urban Development (T-HUD) departments. Of
particular interest to HIV advocates in this bill is the Housing for People
with HIV/AIDS (HOPWA) program. Senate appropriators joined the Trump administration
in suggesting a slash to HOPWA funding of $63 million, funding the program at
just $330 million. It is vital that the Senate follow the lead of their House
counterparts to fund HOPWA at $410 million in their final spending package.
Further, in the
Senate’s not-yet-introduced Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and
Related Agencies (L-HHS) bill, HIV-specific programs are funded at levels
consistent with the president’s budget request, but below what the House
proposed in their version of the L-HHS bill. The Senate also maintains a
harmful ban on the purchase of syringes using federal dollars by syringe
services programs. As a first point of connection to care for many people who
inject drugs, SSPs are a critical aspect of ending the HIV epidemic, and it is
crucial that Congress remove this ideologically driven policy rider to move us
closer to doing so.
AIDS United will
be working with aligned organizations and allies in Congress to ensure final
appropriations bills provide full funding and do not limit HIV prevention
tools, but your voice is needed to help. Fill out AIDS United’s action
alert to write to your legislators, telling them to protect HIV
programmatic funding and policy priorities!
Posted By: AIDS United, Policy Department - Friday, November 08, 2019
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