10.16.07 - Governor Schwarzenegger signs landmark HIV legislation

San Francisco (October 16, 2007) -- The San Francisco AIDS Foundation today praised Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for historic HIV/AIDS decisions in the 2007 legislative session.  Two major bills signed by the Governor will simplify the manner in which consent is given for HIV testing and permit needle exchange programs to use state HIV prevention dollars to purchase sterile syringes.  While the Governor vetoed a bill permitting distribution of condoms in all state prisons, he directed the Corrections Department to select one prison to distribute condoms as a pilot.

“These actions mark a new level of commitment on the part of the state to mount courageous and innovative efforts to control the spread of HIV,” said Dana Van Gorder, the Foundation’s Director of State & Local Policy. “The Governor is to be commended for his visionary leadership on these issues.  While his record on HIV/AIDS was already very strong, these decisions sets him apart from most of the nation’s elected officials with a response to the epidemic at once compassionate and scientific.”

Over the last weekend, the Governor signed AB 110 (Laird – D, Santa Cruz) which was co-sponsored by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.  AB 110 permits the use of state HIV prevention dollars to purchase syringes, which is prohibited under current law.  Syringe exchange has been shown to dramatically reduce the risk of HIV infection resulting from injection drug use among users, their sexual and needle-sharing partners, and their children.  Providing a 10 cent syringe to an injection drug user may save hundreds of thousands of dollars in future costs for HIV treatment. 

The Governor also signed AB 682 (Berg – D, Santa Rosa) which eases current requirements for informed consent for HIV testing in private medical settings and eliminates requirements for written informed consent for testing in public settings.  The new law requires providers to inform a patient when they want to order an HIV test, explain the test and notify patients that they have a right to decline the test.  AB 682 is intended to help an estimated 25 percent of Californians who are living with HIV but do not know it because they have never been tested or have not been tested regularly enough.  The California Medical Association was a co-sponsor of the bill because many of its members reported that existing laws make HIV testing too cumbersome.  A study at San Francisco General Hospital showed that dropping the requirement for written consent by patients for HIV tests significantly increased the number of people tested.

Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 1334 (Swanson – D, Oakland) which would have permitted non-profit HIV prevention groups to distribute condoms in state prisons. In his veto message, the Governor indicated that he was directing the Department of Corrections to develop a pilot program in one state prison to test the viability of condom distribution. “We feel that this is a very reasonable step on the Governor’s part,” said Van Gorder. “We are confident that a well run pilot program in one facility can persuade Department of Corrections leadership that their fears of condom availability have no basis in evidence. Once we can replicate condom distribution in all of California’s state prisons, we will help prevent the spread of HIV among inmates and their partners.”

Two important bills concerning HIV/AIDS did not make it to the Governor’s desk in 2007 but advocates will continue to press for their adoption in 2008. 

AB 1442 (Feuer – D, West Hollywood), also co-sponsored by the AIDS Foundation, would eliminate one of two state licenses required for providers wishing to conduct HIV rapid testing.  The cost and administrative burden of these secondary licenses has resulted in fewer providers offering rapid HIV tests, which produce results in about 20 minutes and increase the likelihood that patients will learn the results of their test.  Because traditional HIV test results take one to two weeks, many people do not return to learn the results. The Governor’s office agrees with the objective of AB 1442 but prefers to accomplish it through regulations.  The AIDS Foundation is currently working with the Governor’s office to move the regulations along and has held the bill at its very last vote in the Legislature in the event that the regulations are not approved in a timely way.

AB 66 (Dymally – D, Los Angeles) would require an offer of opt-out testing for all inmates entering and leaving state prisons.  Owing to concerns about the likely cost of this program and the unknown expense of a simultaneous state effort to improve all prison healthcare systems, this bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.