File #: Res 0180-2006    Version: * Name: Congress to oppose the Bush Administration’s proposed guidelines for the reauthorization of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency CARE Act.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Health
On agenda: 3/22/2006
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution calling upon the United States Congress to oppose the Bush Administration’s proposed guidelines for the reauthorization of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency CARE Act, which would cut New York’s allocation of HIV/AIDS funding, and to increase funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and education in communities of color.
Sponsors: Charles Barron, Gale A. Brewer, Inez E. Dickens, Helen D. Foster, James F. Gennaro, Sara M. Gonzalez, Letitia James, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Annabel Palma, James Sanders, Jr., Larry B. Seabrook, Albert Vann, Thomas White, Jr., John C. Liu
Council Member Sponsors: 14

Res. No. 180

 

Resolution calling upon the United States Congress to oppose the Bush Administration’s proposed guidelines for the reauthorization of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency CARE Act, which would cut New York’s allocation of HIV/AIDS funding, and to increase funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and education in communities of color.

 

By Council Members Barron, Brewer, Dickens, Foster, Gennaro, Gonzalez, James, Mark-Viverito, Palma, Sanders Jr., Seabrook, Vann, White Jr. and Liu

 

Whereas, The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act was enacted in 1990 to address the unmet health needs of persons living with the HIV/AIDS disease by funding primary health care and support services; and

 Whereas, According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Bush administration proposed new guidelines for reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act, the goals of which include: 1) serving the neediest first, 2) focusing on life saving and life-extending services, 3) increasing prevention efforts, 4) increasing accountability, and 5) increasing flexibility with respect to directing funding; and

Whereas, The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) points out that AIDS advocates fear that the new proposal will undermine HIV/AIDS efforts by changing the way AIDS funds are allocated; and

Whereas, An article from the August 4-10, 2005 edition of Gay City News indicates that advocates estimate the cost of cuts to the $107 million CARE Act allocation that New York City receives could run as high as 25 percent; and

Whereas, According to the HIV Health & Human Services Planning Council of New York, New York City remains the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic nationally, with an estimated 92,000 New Yorkers diagnosed and known to be living with HIV or AIDS, and an estimated 25,000 additional people living with HIV but not diagnosed; and

Whereas, With so many people living with HIV/AIDS in New York City, it is critical that funding to address such health needs not be reduced; and

Whereas, In addition to ensuring that New York City does not suffer from cuts in Ryan White Funding, it is also essential that it receives additional HIV/AIDS prevention and education funding, especially with respect to communities of color; and

Whereas, An article appearing in the February 7, 2005 edition of the Washington Post indicates that in 2003, the rate of new AIDS cases for African-American women nationwide was 20 times that of White women; and

Whereas, According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, African-Americans accounted for 53.5% of the City’s new HIV diagnoses in 2004, and African-American females accounted for 67.7% of female new HIV diagnoses; and

Whereas, According to February 8, 2006 issue of The Source on Women’s Issues in Congress, the FY’07 preliminary federal budget would provide $51.9 million, which is $52,000 less than last year, to address the prevention and treatment of needs of minority communities heavily impacted by HIV/AIDS; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the United States Congress to oppose the Bush Administration’s proposed guidelines for the reauthorization of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency CARE Act, which would cut New York’s allocation of HIV/AIDS funding, and to increase funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and education in communities of color.

 

SO

LS# 348

3/15/06