The AIDS Foundation of Chicago ( AFC ) hosted its first ever virtual advocacy day March 18. The day featured a webinar ( "Unpacking the budget: How cuts to Medicaid and HIV funding impacts Illinois" ), legislator outreach and a Twitter chat.
AFC's Virtual Advocacy Day was held in response to the budget ( FY16 which runs from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 ) that Gov. Bruce Rauner proposed last month that would drastically cut medical and social services across a variety of agencies. The webinar featured a presentation by Dan Frye, director of government relations for AFC. Frye outlined the various ways that the budget cuts would affect those with HIV/AIDS and/or those who rely on Medicaid for their healthcare needs.
"Illinois doesn't have enough revenue to meet the need for services across the state. One reason is due to the expiration of the 2011 income tax increase. We are facing a $6 billion budget hole and the demand for services exceeds the state's revenue. We don't have any revenue and Rauner has pledged that he wouldn't raise taxes for any reason," said Frye. "As for HIV/AIDS cuts, the budget reduces overall HIV services funding by 25 percent or $6 million and the African-American HIV/AIDS Response Fund will be reduced by 66 percent, or $1 million.
"Other cuts include the reduction of Medicaid funding by 1.3 billion dollars, supportive housing funding reduced by 100 percent and 400 million in cuts to the Department of Human Services. The 25 percent reduction in ADAP will have a negative impact on HIV prevention and treatment. In addition to these cuts, Best Buddies, Arc of Illinois [disability assistance], the Autism Project, homeless youth services, Teen REACH and immigration integrated services will also be eliminated in the new budget. The governor has also frozen implementation of all new programs within the FY 15 budget including one million dollars from the FY 15 ADAP line which was used to establish the Illinois PrEP [pre-exposure prophylaxis] program."
Frye noted that Illinois doesn't have a spending problem it has a revenue problem that can only be solved with increased revenue streams, so all the services that provide assistance to the most needy citizens can be funded. He said that revenue increases need political will in order to be enacted, and he called on participants to use social media and other outreach efforts to get the word out about this issue.
A Q&A session followed the webinar presentation.
The day also featured online and social-media outreach to members of the Illinois General Assembly and the governor's office ( using the hashtags #JustAdvocate, #PositiveBudgetIL and #HIV ).
AFC will be holding in-person advocacy days in Springfield on April 15 and May 13. To register, visit www.aidschicago.org/advocacy.
See www.aidschicago.org/page/our-work/advocacy/advocacy-days-2015 for more information.
