CAEAR Coalition

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07) led 77 of her colleagues, including every Democratic Representative of the California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota delegations in urging the Trump Administration to immediately restore public health grant funding to those states. This comes after the Administration terminated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grants that support core public health infrastructure and disease prevention.

“Reports have indicated the Administration intends to cut tens of millions in public health funding to California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota,” wrote the Members. “These cuts will unnecessarily hamstring our state and local public health departments and community organizations, putting our constituents’ health at risk. We urge you to restore this funding immediately.”

The funding cuts broadly target grants that support public health staffing, data modernization, and surveillance, as well as HIV and STI prevention programs, and health programs serving communities that have historically faced barriers to care. The Members warned these terminations would weaken states’ ability to detect, contain, and respond to outbreaks, which is especially reckless during the current active measles outbreak. They argued the cuts target the core infrastructure public health relies on.

They also argued the move fits a broader pattern: President Trump has repeatedly threatened to withhold federal support from Democratic led states and cities in moments of crisis, from social servicesto disaster relief. Now, they write, the Administration is again pulling back congressionally approved funds for political reasons, not public health needs.

The members demanded the following:
A full list of terminated grants and grants under consideration to be cut in the coming weeks
A rationale for why impacted grants are “inconsistent with agency priorities.”
What the Department’s justification is for targeting grants only in California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota
Whether the Department planning to rescind public health funding in additional states

“It is within your power to end this cycle of alarming actions to erode public health,” the Members concluded. “We strongly urge you to reverse these terminations, as the real-world consequences for the health and safety of all Americans is at stake.”

Representatives Robin Kelly (IL-02), Kelly Morrison (MN-03), Nanette Barragan (CA-44), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Sean Casten (IL-06), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), and Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) co-led the letter.

Full text of the letter is available HERE.

The Health Resources and Service Administration has put a proposal for a change in formula funding to Part A jurisdictions that would adjust resource allocations from place of diagnosis to where you live and receive care. The proposal was put in the Federal Register on November 10 and is currently open for public comment which closes December 10, 2025. CAEAR will be holding a community zoom call to discuss the implications of the proposal on December 2, to decide whether CAEAR will take an organizational position. The HIV service provider community has long raised concerns about the fairness of jurisdictions getting resources based on diagnosis rather than provision of care so the HRSA study is welcome, and responsive to community requests. However, CAEAR has not been briefed by HRSA on the methodology of the study. CAEAR is interested in the time period studied and the extent to which external but temporary factors were taken into consideration. Will the residence of individuals every June 30th be the reference or will a longer period to tim be considered? We know that everyone diagnosed is not in care and not all of those in care are in the Ryan White system. How will those issues be taken into consideration? HIV/AIDS is a communicable disease and as such it has been a public health priority to test and treat as many people as possible within our jurisdictions. Will that continue to be a public health priority in the pursuit of controlling and ultimately ending the HIV pandemic? The HASA proposal raises many important questions that historically would have been discussed thoroughly before a federal register notice was issued of this significance. We look forward to CAEAR’s community call to discuss the implications of the proposed federal policy and funding changes.