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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) opposed legislation in the House Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday that would cut millions of dollars in HIV/AIDS funding to New Jersey.
Yesterday, the committee marked-up legislation to reauthorize the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act. Pallone said the bill offered in committee by U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), chairman of House Energy and Commerce Committee, is woefully inadequate to address the HIV/AIDS issues facing our nation today, and unfairly punishes states like New Jersey, New York and California which have the highest number of residents living with AIDS.
"Under the bill approved yesterday New Jersey's system of caring for HIV/AIDS patients would suffer dramatically as millions of dollars would flow out of New Jersey every year to other areas of the country," Pallone said.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the legislation by a vote of 38-10 early last evening after a lengthy debate over a controversial new funding formula which shifts money away from states like New Jersey, New York and California to the rest of the country. For the first time, the funding formula includes HIV patients, but does not provide additional funding. Pallone objects to Barton's legislation, which cuts funding to states that have high numbers of AIDS patients.
Pallone said New Jersey consistently ranks fifth in the nation in the number of reported HIV/AIDS cases. The state has the highest proportion of AIDS cases among women and ranks third overall in cases of pediatric AIDS. In response, New Jersey has worked hard to develop a comprehensive array of medical and treatment services, which are funded in part by the CARE Act.
"I do not dispute the need to count HIV cases when it comes to allocating funds, however, if we are going to add HIV to the funding formula then we need to provide more money," Pallone continued. "Otherwise, all we are doing is robbing Peter to pay Paul. We should be funding them both equally and adequately."
The Republican majority on the committee defeated several amendments that would have restored funding to the affected states. The committee also defeated by a vote of 23-21 an amendment offered by Pallone that would have provided a one year reauthorization under the current funding formula and an additional 3.7 percent in funding. |
