Governator Terminates State Office of AIDS

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a budget revision bill on Tuesday that filled a $26 billion gap and also managed to slash important services to the most vulnerable populations in California.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said:

“It’s a shame Governor Schwarzenegger is so eager to tear down the safety net that he appears willing to break the law to do it. I am asking Legislative Counsel for a definitive opinion on the legality of the governor’s actions. The cuts the governor made today will have catastrophic effects on children, domestic abuse victims, and seniors. The cuts the governor made today have broken the lifeline to the state’s most vulnerable and underserved. We
sent the governor budget solutions that solved the deficit. He knows
that. He knows we pledged to work with him on building up the reserve in
August. He knows all that and still chose to take punitive measures
against children and AIDS patients. It wasn’t too long ago when a 24
year old woman born with HIV pleaded with Legislators not to adopt the
Governor’s proposal to eliminate the program that provides the drugs that
keep her alive. It wasn’t too long ago when a disabled woman, needing
both the assistance of a wheel chair and oxygen, pleaded to stay out of a
nursing facility in the event her in-home assistance would be eliminated by the Governor.

AIDS Project Los Angeles said:

"More than just short-sighted, these cuts are lethal," said APLA Executive Director Craig E. Thompson. "We are now poised to reverse more than a decade of progress toward fighting AIDS in California."

The Governor's signed budget includes the elimination of state general fund support for all HIV/AIDS programs except HIV epidemiology and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) -- a total reduction of more than $85 million. This leaves California’s Office of AIDS with only 20 percent of its funding for programs like HIV education and prevention, HIV counseling and testing, home health and early intervention.

"If the ultimate goal is to save money, this budget fails even on that account," Thompson said. "The state will pay dearly in healthcare costs as newly and needlessly infected Californians enter a system that is incapable of providing even basic care."

"Los Angeles County has the second largest AIDS epidemic in the country," Thompson continued. "California was, until today, a model for other states nationwide in HIV/AIDS care and treatment.

"Local health jurisdictions will now be forced to slash other vital programs in order to make up for the state cuts," Thompson explained. "Food, medical transportation, home health -- everything is threatened."

"This is nothing short of a public health disaster," he added. "State leaders must go back to the table and find viable solutions that will not destabilize these vital services.