Annals of Health Law
ACHIEVING AN AIDS-FREE GENERATION
programs.138 At the end of each fiscal year—typically September 30—
federally funded projects halt spending until a new appropriations bill
passes.139 Because appropriations for federal funding always depend on the
yearly passage of a new bill, a certain amount of instability exists for
federally funded programs. “Riders,” like the controversial SEP funding
provision, must survive from year to year.140
Looking at both the yearly renewal requirement for appropriations bills
and the inertia inherent in passing bills in Congress, the appropriations
process may be the more politically expedient option for earning federal
funding for SEPs.141 However, for these same reasons, the appropriations
option is instable, as evidenced by the reinstatement of the ban in 2012.142 A
permanent, affirmative statement that the federal government supports SEPs
is necessary to encourage states to allow them.
V. THE NEED FOR EXPLICIT FEDERAL LAW SUPPORTING SEPS
The current federal position on SEPs creates a significant barrier to HIV
prevention and the achievement of an AIDS-free generation. The ban’s brief
absence and subsequent reinstatement demonstrate why stronger
endorsement on a federal level is needed. The modified ban failed to improve
political and legal conditions for existing SEPs because it lacked teeth and
138. 63C AM. JUR. 2D Public Funds § 31 (2013).
139. Id. § 40.
140. An appropriations bill must originate in the House of Representatives, and, once the
House passes the bill, must be approved by the Senate. As indicated by the fact that Congress
has failed for fifteen consecutive years to pass an appropriations bill on time (the deadline is
October 1), it is no easy task. See Walter Alarkon, Another Omnibus Appropriations Bill Likely
as the End of the Year Approaches, THE HILL (Nov. 12, 2009),
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/67453-another-omnibus-likely-as-appropriations-bills-
remain. A consolidated or omnibus appropriations bill combines several fiscal year
appropriations bills when one has not been passed as the end of the calendar year approaches.
Id.
141. The process of passing a bill can be arduous, and the solution is not politically
expedient. The challenges of passing legislation apply beyond the appropriations process. A
sponsoring Representative or Senator must first introduce the proposal, and, even if both
chambers of Congress vote to pass a bill, it must still survive presidential scrutiny. See
generally S. DOC. NO. 105-14 (1997). In addition to the inherent inertia in the legislative
process, partisanship in today’s Congress significantly limits the ability to move legislation
forward so much so that comparisons to Truman’s “Do-Nothing Congress” abound. See, e.g.,
Amanda Terkel, 112th Congress Set To Become Most Unproductive Since 1940s, HUFFINGTON
POST (Dec. 28, 2012, 9:37 AM), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/
congress-unproductive_n_2371387.html.
142. The appropriations process may also make it less likely that a presidential
administration will fight for the provision. Support for funding of SEPs could jeopardize
funding for numerous other programs important to the administration, the federal government
as a whole, and the public.
