Florida: Officials Vow to Get AIDS Cash Restored

Reacting to a cut of more than $1.2 million in federal Ryan White CARE Act funds, Palm Beach County officials and four members of Congress said they will fight to see the money restored.

The county learned two weeks ago of the cut, which is the largest in the state and the second-largest in the nation. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) officials said they slashed the funding, from $9.5 million to $8.2 million, because of shortcomings in the county's funding application.

But U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings (D) and Robert Wexler (D), who wrote a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt calling the cuts "completely unacceptable", said county officials have told them this year's application was similar to the previous one. "It is difficult to understand how the same data could be acceptable one year, yet inadequate the following year," the representatives wrote. The men will next pursue a meeting with agency officials, according to David Goldenberg, Hastings' legislative director.

Earlier, Rep. E. Clay Shaw (R) wrote to HRSA Administrator Elizabeth Drake to ask for the "detailed reasoning" behind the reduction. Rep. Mark Foley (R) has written to ask for an explanation of the cut so the money can be restored through an appeal process or legislative action.

In addition, Palm Beach County Administrator Bob Weisman said the county's application will be examined in the light of HRSA's feedback "to try to discover if there was a flaw in their review."

On April 4, the county commission will meet to decide how to distribute the reduced allocation of Ryan White dollars.

Back to other news for March 27, 2006