New York State HIV/LGBT Advocacy & Service Provider Community

February 18, 2014

The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo Governor The Capitol Albany, NY 12224

Re: The End of AIDS in New York State – 30-day amendments

Dear Governor Cuomo: We write to follow-up on our January 14, 2014 letter regarding the development of a plan to end AIDS in New York State. In addition to creating a Task Force to End AIDS in New York to promptly develop a strategic blueprint and plan in collaboration with the community and the DOH AIDS Institute, we urge you to include the following items in your 30-day amendments to the 2014-2015 Executive Budget:  $10 million in new funding for the AIDS Institute to implement the plan developed by the above noted task force;  Article 7 language to eliminate the use of condoms as evidence of prostitution by police and prosecutors; and  Article 7 language to legalize the possession of syringes. We are immensely grateful for your announced support last week of an affordable housing protection to ensure that disabled people with HIV/AIDS who receive rental assistance pay no more than 30 percent of their income towards their rent. The 30 percent rent cap is a central element of any plan to end the epidemic and can be expected to prevent homelessness among at-risk people with AIDS who are presently living independently, or wish to leave supportive housing for independent housing, and enable others with AIDS who are now in emergency SROs to move into much needed supportive housing. Including the 30 percent rent cap among your 30-day amendments has inspired hope and celebration among all of us and those we serve. We are also gratified that you and key officials have readily recognized that New York State is well-positioned to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic and have taken valuable steps to do so, including a proposal to institute and jointly fund with the 30 percent rent cap. But we again emphasize that the success of any initiative to end the HIV epidemic in NYS will require your active engagement and leadership, most notably by creating the task force and including the above items in your 30-day amendments. As a result of the work to date by your staff and the DOH AIDS Institute, we know that these items are important elements in any plan to end the epidemic and will get us started in the right direction in the coming fiscal year. We urge you to act now – to make that commitment real in budgetary and program terms via the 30-day amendments – and thereby save both lives and money. Governor Cuomo-End of AIDS February 18, 2014 Page 2

We welcome the opportunity to work with you and to further discuss our shared agenda. On our behalf, please contact Daniel Tietz at [email protected] or at 212-924-3934 ext 103. Thank you. Sincerely,

Daniel Tietz Sharen Duke Executive Director Executive Director/CEO AIDS Community Research Initiative of America AIDS Service Center NYC

Carl Siciliano Teresita R. Rodriguez Executive Director CEO Ali Forney Center APICHA

Regina R. Quattrochi Jose Davila CEO President/Chief Administrative Officer Bailey House, Inc. BOOM!Health

Glenda G. Smith Erin M. Drinkwater Executive Director Executive Director Bridging Access to Care Brooklyn Community Pride Center

Jay Laudato Diane Arneth Executive Director President/CEO Callen-Lorde Community Health Center Community Health Action of Staten Island

Nathan Schaefer Jennifer Jones Austin Executive Director Executive Director/CEO Empire State Pride Agenda Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies Governor Cuomo-End of AIDS February 18, 2014 Page 3

Vaughn E. Taylor-Akutagawa Interim Executive Director Janet Weinberg Gay Men of African Descent, Inc. Interim Chief Executive Officer/ COO Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Inc.

Katherine Acey Steven C. Bussey Executive Director CEO GRIOT Circle, Inc. Harlem United Community AIDS Center, Inc.

Allan Clear Paul Vitale Executive Director President/CEO Harm Reduction Coalition HELP/PSI

Charles King Thomas Krever President/CEO Executive Director Housing Works, Inc. Hetrick-Martin Institute

Ingrid Floyd Executive Director Kevin M. Cathcart Iris House Executive Director Lambda Legal

Guillermo Chacón Jeffrey L. Reynolds President Executive Director Latino Commission on AIDS, Inc. L.I. Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence Vice-Chair, NYS AIDS Advisory Council

Governor Cuomo-End of AIDS February 18, 2014 Page 4

William Morán-Berberena C. Virginia Fields Executive Director President/CEO National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, Inc. Metropolitan Community Church of New York

Glennda Testone Carolina M. López Executive Director Executive Director NYC LBGT Community Center New York Harm Reduction Educators (NYHRE)

Michael Adams Executive Director Pauline Park Services and Advocacy for Gay, , Bisexual President of the Board of Directors and Transgender Elders & Acting Executive Director Queens Pride House

Joyce A. Rivera Mark Harrington Founder & Executive Director Executive Director St. Ann's Corner of Harm Reduction Treatment Action Group

Emma DeVito Sean Barry President/CEO Executive Director VillageCare VOCAL-New York