In yesterday’s post, we highlighted three New York state programs slated for funding cuts or elimination that are related to housing and/or HIV.

After the post went live, a few of you wrote in to ask what was happening with the “Save the AIDS Institute” petition that we began circulating last month, so here’s a short recap.

Since news broke that the AIDS Institute, as well as the Office of Public Health, were slated for funding cuts, we have sprung into budget advocacy season and haven’t looked back.

Housing Works’ staff, clients, and other like-minded advocates have had roughly 40 meetings with Assembly Members and Senators in the last week alone about the cut to the AIDS Institute. As we noted yesterday, it appears that the Assembly will restore the funding cut and maintain the AIDS Institute as an independent center, effectively negating the bunching of the public health programs into buckets (Gottfried’s office called it a lump and cut). Likewise, the Senate seems to be opposed to the proposed “lump” as well, which strongly suggests that the AIDS Institute’s existence is safe, at least for now.

What isn’t clear, however, is if the Senate is willing to the restore the proposed cut. While the Senate Democrats are in favor, the Senate Republicans have been capricious thus far, and so we have been focusing on pressuring their leadership.

With the budget likely to be finalized in the coming week, it is paramount that we continue to advocate for programs and services that affect the state’s most vulnerable: those living with HIV/AIDS and those in need of stable housing.

Please continue to make those advocacy phone zaps and we will update you with our progress!

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