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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). | |||||||||||||||
11 | According to the Centers for Disease Control and | |||||||||||||||
12 | Prevention (CDC), HIV transmission can be virtually eliminated | |||||||||||||||
13 | when linkage to HIV medications and medical care are widely | |||||||||||||||
14 | accessible. Treatment and prevention strategies such as | |||||||||||||||
15 | Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and | |||||||||||||||
16 | Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) are time-tested, | |||||||||||||||
17 | science-based interventions that prevent new HIV diagnoses. | |||||||||||||||
18 | Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a prevention strategy that | |||||||||||||||
19 | involves sexually active HIV-negative adults and adolescents | |||||||||||||||
20 | taking prescription medications to prevent HIV acquisition. | |||||||||||||||
21 | PrEP is 99% effective in preventing HIV when taken as | |||||||||||||||
22 | prescribed. U=U acknowledges the proven science that people | |||||||||||||||
23 | living with HIV who have an undetectable viral load pose no | |||||||||||||||
24 | chance of transmitting the virus sexually. However, access to |
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1 | health care, housing, steady and sufficient income, mental | ||||||
2 | health and substance-use services, HIV treatment, addressing | ||||||
3 | HIV-related stigma, and access to PrEP persist as barriers to | ||||||
4 | lowering the HIV incidence rates across Illinois. | ||||||
5 | To advance the goals and strategies of the Getting to Zero | ||||||
6 | Illinois Plan 2.0 to end the HIV epidemic in Illinois by 2030, | ||||||
7 | the State of Illinois will need to develop and support | ||||||
8 | programs in health care, health disparities, housing, | ||||||
9 | education and awareness. These new state funding opportunities | ||||||
10 | for Fiscal Year 2026 aim to increase access to clinical and | ||||||
11 | supportive services for HIV treatment and PrEP. | ||||||
12 | Additionally, these investments are grounded in racial | ||||||
13 | health equity to address the health disparities experienced by | ||||||
14 | people living with or vulnerable to HIV-especially among our | ||||||
15 | Black, Latino/a/x, and LGBTQIA communities. | ||||||
16 | Section 5. The following named amounts, or so much thereof | ||||||
17 | as may be necessary, are appropriated to the Department of | ||||||
18 | Public Health for expenses of programs related to Acquired | ||||||
19 | Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and Human Immunodeficiency | ||||||
20 | Virus (HIV): | ||||||
21 | OFFICE OF HEALTH PROTECTION: AIDS/HIV | ||||||
22 | No less than one-half (50%) of all funds appropriated in | ||||||
23 | any fiscal year to the Department of Public Health's Office of | ||||||
24 | Health Protection: AIDS/HIV Division shall be used for |
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1 | expenses pursuant to HIV/AIDS programs serving minority | ||||||
2 | populations. | ||||||
3 | Payable from the General Revenue Fund: | ||||||
4 | For Expenses of AIDS/HIV Education, Drugs, | ||||||
5 | Services, Counseling, Testing, Outreach to | ||||||
6 | Minority Populations, Costs Associated with | ||||||
7 | Correctional Facilities Counseling, Testing | ||||||
8 | Referral and Partner Notification (CTRPN), | ||||||
9 | and Patient and Worker Notification Pursuant | ||||||
10 | to Public Act 87-763 .......................... $27,562,400 | ||||||
11 | For Grants and Other Expenses for the Prevention | ||||||
12 | and Treatment of HIV/AIDS and the Creation of an | ||||||
13 | HIV/AIDS Service Delivery System to Reduce the | ||||||
14 | the Disparity of HIV Infection and AIDS Cases | ||||||
15 | Between African Americans and Other | ||||||
16 | Population Groups .............................. $4,000,000 | ||||||
17 | Payable from the Public Health Services Fund: | ||||||
18 | For Expenses of Programs for | ||||||
19 | Prevention of AIDS/HIV ........................... $7,250,000 | ||||||
20 | For Expenses for Surveillance Programs and | ||||||
21 | Seroprevalence Studies of AIDS/HIV ............. $2,750,000 |
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1 | For Expenses Associated with the Ryan White | ||||||
2 | Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency Act of | ||||||
3 | 1990 (CARE) and other AIDS/HIV services ...... $100,000,000 | ||||||
4 | Payable from the Quality of Life Endowment Fund: | ||||||
5 | For Grants and Expenses Associated with HIV/AIDS | ||||||
6 | Prevention and Education ....................... $1,000,000 | ||||||
7 | Total $142,562,400 | ||||||
8 | Section 10. The sum of $15,000,000, or so much thereof as | ||||||
9 | may be necessary, is appropriated from the African-American | ||||||
10 | HIV/AIDS Response Fund to the Department of Public Health for | ||||||
11 | grants and administrative expenses associated with the | ||||||
12 | prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and the creation of an | ||||||
13 | HIV/AIDS service delivery system to reduce the disparity of | ||||||
14 | HIV infection and AIDS cases among African-Americans. | ||||||
15 | Section 15. The sum of $5,500,000, or so much thereof as | ||||||
16 | may be necessary, is appropriated to the Department of Public | ||||||
17 | Health from the General Revenue Fund for expenses of programs | ||||||
18 | related to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and | ||||||
19 | human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and specifically to the | ||||||
20 | Getting to Zero-Illinois (GTZ) plan to end the HIV epidemic by | ||||||
21 | 2030. |
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1 | Section 20. The sum of $500,000, or so much thereof as may | ||||||
2 | be necessary, is appropriated to the Department of Public | ||||||
3 | Health from the General Revenue Fund for expenses of programs | ||||||
4 | related to the prevention, screening, and treatment services | ||||||
5 | to address sexually transmitted infection (STI) cases. | ||||||
6 | Section 25. The sum of $2,000,000, or so much thereof as | ||||||
7 | may be necessary, is appropriated to the Department of Public | ||||||
8 | Health from the General Revenue Fund for expenses of programs | ||||||
9 | related to the PrEP4Illinois Program to provide client | ||||||
10 | navigation for pre-exposure prophylaxis services and | ||||||
11 | medication access. A portion of this funding must be spent on | ||||||
12 | establishing the mechanism, process, policy, or system needed | ||||||
13 | to allow the PrEP4Illinois program to pay for the ancillary | ||||||
14 | services (including, but not limited to, provider office | ||||||
15 | visits or labs) associated with being on pre-exposure | ||||||
16 | prophylaxis, as well as to begin covering the cost of such | ||||||
17 | ancillary services for the uninsured and underinsured people | ||||||
18 | in the Department of Public Health's PrEP4Illinois program. | ||||||
19 | Section 30. The sum of $2,500,000, or so much thereof as | ||||||
20 | may be necessary, is appropriated from the General Revenue | ||||||
21 | Fund to the Department of Public Health for grants, expenses | ||||||
22 | of programs and administrative costs related to the | ||||||
23 | implementation of the Rapid Start for HIV treatment pilot | ||||||
24 | program. A portion of this funding shall be used to cover |
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1 | administrative expenses to hire an HIV Treatment Innovation | ||||||
2 | Coordinator that will develop and execute a comprehensive | ||||||
3 | strategy to adopt a Rapid Start model for HIV treatment as the | ||||||
4 | standard of care. | ||||||
5 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | ||||||
6 | 2025. |