$HB4264 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

AN ACT concerning appropriations.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Background. For more than 4 decades, HIV/AIDS has ravaged communities across America and Illinois, doubling down on the racial health disparities also laid bare across the opioid epidemic, maternal and infant mortality rates, COVID-19 mortality and morbidity rates, and the rising rates of sexually transmitted infections (chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV transmission can be virtually eliminated when linkage to HIV medications and medical care are widely accessible. Treatment and prevention strategies such as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) are time-tested, science-based interventions that prevent new HIV diagnoses. As a bit of background, PrEP is a prevention strategy that involves sexually active HIV-negative adults and adolescents taking prescription medications to prevent HIV acquisition. PrEP is 99% effective in preventing HIV when taken as prescribed. U=U acknowledges the proven science that people living with HIV who have an undetectable viral load pose no chance of transmitting the virus sexually. However, access to health care, HIV treatment, addressing HIV-related stigma, and access to PrEP persist as barriers to lowering the HIV incidence rates across Illinois.

While progress has been made, HIV remains a significant epidemic in Illinois. As of 2019, there are an estimated 42,400 people living with HIV, including those who are undiagnosed; 22,700 of  those people  lived in the City of Chicago. Black and Latino/a/x communities comprise 73% of those living with HIV in Illinois despite these communities only comprising 14.6% and 17.5% of the State’s population, respectively. In 2019, 3,136 new HIV diagnoses were reported across Illinois. In Chicago, the racial disparities are even more stark. As of 2019, there are an estimated 22,700 people living with HIV in Chicago, including those undiagnosed. Black Chicagoans comprise 50.1% of people diagnosed in Chicago, 56% of new diagnoses, 56.9% of AIDS diagnoses and 56.6% of late HIV diagnoses. Without question, ending the HIV epidemic in Illinois is a health equity and racial justice issue.

To help address the impact of HIV on these populations and communities, Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) and a number of stakeholders from across the State introduced the comprehensive Getting to Zero Illinois (GTZ-IL) plan in May 2019 to end the HIV epidemic in Illinois by 2030 through a deep commitment to:

(1) Eliminating stigma: Stigma, in all forms, stands in the way of achieving health equity and the outcomes necessary to end the HIV epidemic.

(2) Dismantling racism: Through our work to end the epidemic, we will actively reframe and dismantle systems that perpetuate white privilege.

(3) Prioritizing trauma prevention and trauma-informed care: GTZ-IL will ground its work in principles that honor the importance of safety and empowerment.

(4) Cultural humility: Cultural humility centers on being open to difference between Self and Other and prioritizes space for celebrating that which is most important to the other person.

(5) Focusing on data to achieve outcomes: Our priority outcomes, increasing viral suppression and PrEP use by 20 percentage points by 2030, will be the standard by which we measure our progress and success.

To advance the goals and strategies of the Getting to Zero plan to end the HIV epidemic in Illinois by 2030, the state of Illinois will need to develop and support programs in health care, health disparities, housing, education and awareness. These new funding opportunities aim to increase access to clinical and supportive services for HIV treatment and PrEP. Additionally, these investments are grounded in racial health equity to address the health disparities experienced by people living with or vulnerable to HIV—especially among our Black, Latino/a/x, and LGBTQIA communities.

Section 5. The sum of $4,500,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the State Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency Fund to the Department of Public Health for grants and administrative expenses associated with the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and the fulfillment of the Getting to Zero Illinois plan to end the HIV epidemic by 2030 for purposes allowed by Section 9901 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and any associated federal guidance.

Section 10. The following named amounts, or so much thereof as may be necessary, are appropriated to the Department of Public Health for expenses of programs related to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and specifically to the Getting to Zero-Illinois (GTZ) plan to end the HIV epidemic by 2030:

OFFICE OF HEALTH PROTECTION: AIDS/HIV

No less than 50% of all funds appropriated in any fiscal year to the Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Protection: AIDS/HIV Division shall be used for expenses pursuant to HIV/AIDS programs serving minority populations.

Payable from the State Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency Fund:

For Expenses of HIV/STI and LGBTQIA cultural competency and humility training for primary health care and behavioral health care providers $50,000

For Grants and Other Expenses for the Development of an Employment Referral Program for People Living with or Vulnerable to HIV and the LGBTQIA Community................................. $350,000

For Expenses of the Development and Launch of a Statewide GTZ-IL and U=U Public Education Awareness Media

Campaign.......................................... $250,000

For Grants and Other Expenses for the Development of a Program to Identify Those People Living with HIV not Currently in Care $450,000

For Grants and Other Expenses for the Development and Support of a Statewide Program to Increase Access to PrEP and PEP...... $500,000

For Grants and Other Expenses for the Development of Community-Based Programs that Assist People Living with HIV Re-Entering Society from Incarceration Through Outreach, Health Education, Screening and Testing, and Substance Abuse

Treatment......................................... $800,000

For Grants and Other Expenses for the Development of Community-Based Programs to Reduce Stigma on People Living with or Vulnerable to HIV $350,000

For Grants and Other Expenses for Capacity Building and Technical Assistance for Black-led and Latino/a/x-led Community Based Organizations Missioned to Reduce the Health Disparities of HIV Infections Among Impacted Population

Groups.......................................... $1,500,000

For Expenses for the Development of a Statewide At-Home HIV Testing Program........................................... $250,000

Total....................................... $4,500,000

Section 15. The sum of $10,500,000, or so much thereof as maybe necessary, is appropriated from the State Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency Fund to the Department of Human Services for housing grants, wraparound supportive services, and administrative expenses associated with the prevention of people living with or vulnerable to HIV returning to or falling into homelessness for purposes allowed by Section 9901 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and any associated federal guidance.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2022.