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| 1 | AN ACT concerning appropriations. | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | represented in the General Assembly: | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Section 1. Legislative findings. For more than 4 decades, | |||||||||||||||
| 5 | HIV/AIDS has ravaged communities across America and Illinois, | |||||||||||||||
| 6 | doubling down on the racial health disparities also laid bare | |||||||||||||||
| 7 | across the opioid epidemic, maternal and infant mortality | |||||||||||||||
| 8 | rates, COVID-19 mortality and morbidity rates, and the rising | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | rates of sexually transmitted infections (chlamydia, | |||||||||||||||
| 10 | gonorrhea, and syphilis). In 2024, there were 1,583 people | |||||||||||||||
| 11 | that received an HIV diagnosis and a total of 39,884 people | |||||||||||||||
| 12 | living with diagnosed HIV across Illinois. | |||||||||||||||
| 13 | According to the Centers for Disease Control and | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Prevention (CDC), HIV transmission can be virtually eliminated | |||||||||||||||
| 15 | when linkage to HIV medications and medical care are widely | |||||||||||||||
| 16 | accessible. Treatment and prevention strategies such as | |||||||||||||||
| 17 | Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and | |||||||||||||||
| 18 | Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) are time-tested, | |||||||||||||||
| 19 | science-based interventions that prevent new HIV diagnoses. | |||||||||||||||
| 20 | Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a prevention strategy that | |||||||||||||||
| 21 | involves sexually active HIV-negative adults and adolescents | |||||||||||||||
| 22 | taking prescription medications to prevent HIV acquisition. | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | PrEP is 99% effective in preventing HIV when taken as | |||||||||||||||
| 24 | prescribed. U=U acknowledges the proven science that people | |||||||||||||||
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| 1 | living with HIV who have an undetectable viral load pose no | ||||||
| 2 | chance of transmitting the virus sexually. However, access to | ||||||
| 3 | health care, housing, steady and sufficient income, mental | ||||||
| 4 | health and substance-use services, HIV treatment, addressing | ||||||
| 5 | HIV-related stigma, and access to PrEP persist as barriers to | ||||||
| 6 | lowering the HIV incidence rates across Illinois. | ||||||
| 7 | To advance the goals and strategies of the Getting to Zero | ||||||
| 8 | Illinois Plan 2.0 to end the HIV epidemic in Illinois by 2030, | ||||||
| 9 | the State of Illinois will need to develop and support | ||||||
| 10 | programs in health care, health disparities, housing, | ||||||
| 11 | education and awareness. These new state funding opportunities | ||||||
| 12 | for Fiscal Year 2027 aim to increase access to clinical and | ||||||
| 13 | supportive services for HIV treatment and PrEP. | ||||||
| 14 | Additionally, these investments are grounded in racial | ||||||
| 15 | health equity to address the health disparities experienced by | ||||||
| 16 | people living with or vulnerable to HIV-especially among our | ||||||
| 17 | Black, Latino/a/x, and LGBTQIA communities. HIV surveillance | ||||||
| 18 | data for 2024 show that nearly 75% of new HIV transmissions | ||||||
| 19 | occurred among Black and Latino/a/x communities. | ||||||
| 20 | Section 5. The following named amounts, or so much thereof | ||||||
| 21 | as may be necessary, are appropriated to the Department of | ||||||
| 22 | Public Health for expenses of programs related to Acquired | ||||||
| 23 | Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and Human Immunodeficiency | ||||||
| 24 | Virus (HIV): | ||||||
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| 1 | OFFICE OF HEALTH PROTECTION: AIDS/HIV | ||||||
| 2 | No less than one-half (50%) of all funds appropriated in | ||||||
| 3 | any fiscal year to the Department of Public Health's Office of | ||||||
| 4 | Health Protection: AIDS/HIV Division shall be used for | ||||||
| 5 | expenses pursuant to HIV/AIDS programs serving minority | ||||||
| 6 | populations. | ||||||
| 7 | Payable from the General Revenue Fund: | ||||||
| 8 | For Expenses of AIDS/HIV Education, Drugs, | ||||||
| 9 | Services, Counseling, Testing, Outreach to | ||||||
| 10 | Minority Populations, Costs Associated with | ||||||
| 11 | Correctional Facilities Counseling, Testing | ||||||
| 12 | Referral and Partner Notification (CTRPN), | ||||||
| 13 | and Patient and Worker Notification Pursuant | ||||||
| 14 | to Public Act 87-763..........................$32,000,000 | ||||||
| 15 | For Grants and Other Expenses for the Prevention | ||||||
| 16 | and Treatment of HIV/AIDS and the Creation of an | ||||||
| 17 | HIV/AIDS Service Delivery System to Reduce the | ||||||
| 18 | the Disparity of HIV Infection and AIDS Cases | ||||||
| 19 | Between African Americans and Other | ||||||
| 20 | Population Groups..............................$4,000,000 | ||||||
| 21 | For Grants and Administrative Expenses | ||||||
| 22 | for Housing Opportunities for Persons | ||||||
| 23 | with AIDS Program................................$720,000 | ||||||
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| 1 | Payable from the Public Health Services Fund: | ||||||
| 2 | For Expenses of Programs for | ||||||
| 3 | Prevention of AIDS/HIV...........................$7,250,000 | ||||||
| 4 | For Expenses for Surveillance Programs and | ||||||
| 5 | Seroprevalence Studies of AIDS/HIV.............$2,750,000 | ||||||
| 6 | For Expenses Associated with the Ryan White | ||||||
| 7 | Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency Act of | ||||||
| 8 | 1990 (CARE) and other AIDS/HIV services, including | ||||||
| 9 | prior years' costs...........................$100,000,000 | ||||||
| 10 | Payable from the Quality of Life Endowment Fund: | ||||||
| 11 | For Grants and Expenses Associated with HIV/AIDS | ||||||
| 12 | Prevention and Education.......................$1,000,000 | ||||||
| 13 | Total $147,720,000 | ||||||
| 14 | Section 10. The sum of $7,880,500, or so much thereof as | ||||||
| 15 | may be necessary, is appropriated from the African-American | ||||||
| 16 | HIV/AIDS Response Fund to the Department of Public Health for | ||||||
| 17 | grants and administrative expenses associated with the | ||||||
| 18 | prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and the creation of an | ||||||
| 19 | HIV/AIDS service delivery system to reduce the disparity of | ||||||
| 20 | HIV infection and AIDS cases among African-Americans. | ||||||
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| 1 | Section 15. The sum of $5,500,000, or so much thereof as | ||||||
| 2 | may be necessary, is appropriated to the Department of Public | ||||||
| 3 | Health from the General Revenue Fund for grants and expenses | ||||||
| 4 | of programs related to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome | ||||||
| 5 | (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and specifically | ||||||
| 6 | to the Getting to Zero-Illinois (GTZ) plan to end the HIV | ||||||
| 7 | epidemic by 2030. | ||||||
| 8 | Section 20. The sum of $500,000, or so much thereof as may | ||||||
| 9 | be necessary, is appropriated to the Department of Public | ||||||
| 10 | Health from the General Revenue Fund for grants and expenses | ||||||
| 11 | of programs related to the prevention, screening, and | ||||||
| 12 | treatment services to address sexually transmitted infection | ||||||
| 13 | (STI) cases. | ||||||
| 14 | Section 25. The sum of $2,000,000, or so much thereof as | ||||||
| 15 | may be necessary, is appropriated to the Department of Public | ||||||
| 16 | Health from the General Revenue Fund for expenses of programs | ||||||
| 17 | related to the PrEP4Illinois Program to provide client | ||||||
| 18 | navigation for pre-exposure prophylaxis services and | ||||||
| 19 | medication access. A portion of this funding must be spent on | ||||||
| 20 | establishing the mechanism, process, policy, or system needed | ||||||
| 21 | to allow the PrEP4Illinois program to pay for the ancillary | ||||||
| 22 | services (including, but not limited to, provider office | ||||||
| 23 | visits or labs) associated with being on pre-exposure | ||||||
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| 1 | prophylaxis, as well as to begin covering the cost of such | ||||||
| 2 | ancillary services for the uninsured and underinsured people | ||||||
| 3 | in the Department of Public Health's PrEP4Illinois program. | ||||||
| 4 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | ||||||
| 5 | 2026. | ||||||