Bay Area Reporter - August 27, 2009
Matthew S. Bajko

AIDS agency executives are pressing to see some of that money used to backfill the state cuts. Supervisor Bevan Dufty said this week he intends to ask his board colleagues to make up for all of the lost AIDS funding when they reconvene in September.

"It should be a top priority, that is what those funds are for. I will start by asking for full restoration and see where we end up," said Dufty, who has been on vacation in Provincetown, in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter . "Neither myself, nor Supervisor David Campos, nor my other colleagues on the board will stand by and let agencies be decimated because of this state action."

Last week state AIDS officials informed local health jurisdictions how they would implement nearly $60 million in cuts to AIDS health care programs and HIV prevention services. The move came in response to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision to use his line-item veto power to slash state AIDS funding in half, leaving only $82.4 million in the 2009-2010 fiscal year budget.

The city's share of state HIV prevention money took a $2.4 million hit, a reduction of 83 percent. HIV Prevention Director Dr. Grant Colfax said he has told local AIDS agencies that their funding will not be cut until October 15.

"We have informed our contractors that by mid-October to expect cuts but nothing is happening immediately unless they hear otherwise," said Colfax, who was in Atlanta attending this week's National HIV Prevention conference. "I think people are exploring different avenues to try to find other revenue to make up for the cut."

Working under guidelines set out by the city's HIV Prevention Planning Council, Colfax said priority will be given to funding HIV testing and counseling services; prevention for HIV-positive people; and treatment programs for gay men addicted to meth.

"The question is how can we implement these very severe cuts, and we are still working on that process," he said. "We have been getting input from our planning council and the community on how we might proceed."

While the wait to learn if their budgets will be affected will be stressful, AIDS agency executives said they are glad health officials are taking the time to decide how to respond to the state cuts.

"It is stressful because it comes down to how are services or clients impacted. We know the cuts on the state level are very deep, so it will affect the local system of care," said Kaushik Roy, Shanti executive director. "It is disappointing the city has been placed in this position in the first place. I am really glad they have set the October 15 date and given themselves a chance to be as deliberative and thoughtful as possible."

San Francisco AIDS Foundation officials, along with asking state lawmakers to reexamine finding new revenue streams that could ameliorate the need for the AIDS cuts, are also hopeful that city leaders will be able to blunt the impact on HIV services and programs.

"We urge the governor and the Legislature to reverse these destructive budget cuts by reconsidering revenue enhancements that would maintain the state's safety net without hindering economic recovery," said SFAF CEO Mark Cloutier. "Faced with an unprecedented $3.7 million cut to HIV prevention and care services, the city of San Francisco has the opportunity to continue its leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS by using its reserve funds to mitigate the worst of the state budget reductions."

Colfax said he hoped that the supervisors would include HIV prevention among the categories of services receiving city money to deal with state funding cuts. Without additional financial support, he said it will be impossible to maintain current services aimed at stopping HIV transmission in the city.

"I think ultimately it is up to the supervisors on whether or how they would want to restore some of the reductions that have been made," he said. "There have been massive state cuts across this city. Certainly we want HIV prevention to be at the table if they consider restoring some of these. We are at risk of losing our 25 years of top notch HIV prevention in this city."

m.bajko@ebar.com

090827
BR090808

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