The start of the 110th Congress, with its new Democratic majority, created early excitement among advocates about a new congressional direction and anticipated funding increases for HIV/AIDS programs. Hopes were dampened by a presidential veto of the fiscal year (FY) 2008 Labor–HHS–Education appropriations bill and across-the-board cuts that reduced—and in some instances eliminated—increases to many HIV/AIDS programs originally proposed by Congress but rejected by the Bush administration. Some programs did receive increases, however, which advocates took as a welcome signal from Congress that domestic HIV/AIDS programs are a priority. As the second and final session of the 110th begins, AIDS advocates are hoping to build on these increases and pass key HIV/AIDS legislation before electoral politics completely overtake Congress.

Of great importance to San Franciscans is the $23 million increase in Ryan White Part A grants (the largest in 7 years) awarded to the 56 most highly affected U.S. cities. At the request of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Congress supported a special appropriation of $9.5 million. Accompanying bill language, to be included in Part A of Ryan White, directs the Bush administration to use the special resources to restore formula cuts resulting from incorrect interpretation (by the federal agency that administers the program) of language in the recently reauthorized Ryan White legislation.  Thanks to Speaker Pelosi’s efforts, jurisdictions such as San Francisco—which will receive $4.8 million—will see some of their funds restored. In addition, the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program was spared a cut and instead received the entire $14 million increase proposed by the administration and Congress.

However, the across-the-board rescission resulted in flat funding of the state-based Ryan White Part B grants and only a $19.2 million increase for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). Funding to HIV prevention programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were cut at a time when the CDC is attempting to heighten its response to the HIV epidemic in disproportionately affected communities of color. And the flat appropriation to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) means significant budget cuts to existing research projects and a decrease in the number of new grants—particularly among young investigators—for essential HIV-related biomedical and behavioral research.

In anticipation of the reauthorization of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the largest and most bipartisan support for HIV/AIDS programs was for bilateral programs and those sponsored by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which received a $1.48 billion increase.

For more information on all of these FY 2008 appropriation items, consult the AIDS Budget and Appropriations chart, available at http://www.sfaf.org/files/site1/asset/abac2008_final.pdf.