Looking Forward to 2005

This month, the reality of election 2004 becomes the reality of a new political environment as President Bush celebrates his second inauguration, dozens of new members of Congress are sworn in and we face new Republican leadership in the Georgia General Assembly. 2005 is likely to be a year of vast political challenges and changes.

Federal Appropriations Leave PWAs Out in the Cold

Just days before Thanksgiving and nearly two months after the start of the federal fiscal year, Congress finally passed a budget. While we've known for months that the outlook for HIV funding was not good, there were some last-minute disappointments that are sure to cause problems in the coming year. The quick highlights are:

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• A $45 million increase in funding for the entire Ryan White CARE Act. While the details were not yet available, it was assumed that this went entirely to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). Unfortunately, this modest increase will not fully eliminate waiting lists. The other programs funded under the CARE Act will all be vying for their share of funding that has remained level for the past three years.

• A $30 million increase to abstinence-only education. On a related note, the woman tapped to be the new Secretary of Education under the Bush Administration is a vocal advocate for abstinence-only education.

• A $10 million decrease in funding for the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS program.

• Funding for both the National Institutes of Health and the CDC were increased by $800 million and $167 million respectively, but the amount going to specific HIV/AIDS programs is not yet known.

New Leadership in the Georgia General Assembly

The future of ADAP funding in Georgia remains uncertain but hopeful, at least for now. Although there were rumors of cuts to funding for ADAP when the Board of the Department of Human Resources reviewed their budget recommendations to the Governor, it appears that funding will remain steady when the Governor announces his budget recommendations in early January. This good news does not mean that we are without worries for Georgia's ADAP. For the past seven years, we've been highly successful in working with key lawmakers in both the House and Senate to ensure that ADAP remained a state budget priority. Unfortunately, the recent election cycle saw nearly all of these supportive lawmakers either elected to new positions or stripped of their roles on the appropriations committees. For us, that means starting again in building a base of support. Please let us know if you are from any of the districts mentioned below, because we'll need your help in building these new relationships.

No official announcement has been made about how the appropriations committee will be structured in the new General Assembly or who will be in leadership roles concerning health care spending. However, these are the men we anticipate making new relationships with:

• Rep. Don Parsons, Cobb County, is expected to be the Chair of the Appropriations Committee.

• Rep. David Graves, Bibb County, and Rep. Jeff Brown, Coweta and Troup Counties, are expected to have leadership positions on the subcommittee reviewing health expenditures.

• Rep. Ron Stephens, from Savannah, is expected to chair the Medicaid subcommittee.

This year will start off very differently than in the past, as newly-elected House Speaker Glen Richardson has already announced that the usual two weeks of budget hearings featuring testimony from department heads will not take place.

Reauthorizing the CARE Act

The past year has been a time when organizations both large and small have drafted their positions on the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act. This critical legislation must be reauthorized by Congress every five years. I'll certainly be writing extensively on this process as the year progresses. Although reauthorization does not determine funding, it does determine how those funds will be spent over the next five years. Already, there are concerns that some dramatic changes could take place that may impact your ability to seek or provide services in the future.

Several groups have openly questioned the need for separate funding for large urban areas under Title I and states under Title II. Other groups have begun to question the need to fund services such as child care, transportation, treatment education and peer counseling. There's even been one group that issued a press release after the election suggesting that any group engaged in advocacy that could be considered pro-gay be banned from applying for CARE Act funding.

The voice of Georgia advocates is likely to take on greater importance than ever before. We are a large southern state with both strong Title I and II programs, and U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood from the Augusta area is expected to take a lead on reauthorization efforts. AIDS Survival Project, working in conjunction with other Georgia members of the CAEAR Coalition, will be scheduling a series of meetings around the state to discuss what reauthorization means to you and to solicit your support for our efforts in D.C.

Positive Action Network and Getting Your Voice Heard

This coming year will also see some changes to our Positive Action Network. We were honored to receive our initial funding for this program from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation. However, that funding has come to a close and it's been difficult to secure the resources necessary to ensure that we could have full-time staff for this initiative. As a result, I'll be stepping back in as the coordinator of this project at least for the first few months of 2005.

The year will be an important one for ensuring that the voices of people living with HIV and their advocates are heard in a way that is loud, strong and effective. We're starting the year off right with two upcoming events to help you learn how to be an effective advocate.

First, we will host our annual Lobby Day and Training on Sunday and Monday, February 6 and 7. On Sunday, we will be joined by professional lobbyists and members of the Georgia General Assembly to go over the issues of importance in this year's legislative session and how you can influence the outcome. On Monday, we will put that new training into action as we take the message of funding for ADAP, Medicaid and other HIV-related issues to the capitol for our annual Lobby Day.

Following that, on Wednesday, March 16, we will return to the capitol for our annual Legislative AIDS Awareness Day. Representatives from many AIDS service organizations will join other concerned citizens to share educational information on HIV in Georgia. More details on this event will be published in the March/April issue of Survival News.

If you would like to be involved in either of these important events, please e-mail me at JGraham@aidssurvivalproject.org.