M I N U T E S
Members Present: Paul Carr (Co-chair), Marya Gilborn (Co-chair), Billy Fields, David Klotz, Guadalupe Dominguez Plummer (ex-officio), John Schoepp, Terry Troia
Members Absent: Raffi Babakhanian, Matt Baney, Joan Edwards, Steve Hemraj, Marcelo Maia, Stella Safo, MD
Staff Present: Michael Navejas, Doienne Saab, Johanna Acosta, PhD, Adrianna Eppinger-Meiering, Deb Noble, Abraham Omeyoma (DOHMH); Gemma Ashby-Barclay (Public Health Solutions)
Agenda Item #1: Welcome/Introductions/Minutes
Ms. Gilborn and Mr. Carr opened the meeting, followed by a roll call and a moment of silence. The minutes of the June 9, 2025 meeting were approved with no changes.
Agenda Item #2: GY 2026 Application Spending Plan
Mr. Klotz explained that the committee needs to develop a spending request for the GY 2026 grant application with a maximum 5% increase. HRSA has informed EMAs that the balance of the GY 2025 award will be received by the end of July. The total for the current year should be in the same ballpark as GY 2024. The line item appropriations for the GY 2026 federal budget are now being considered by Congress based on the recently passed large tax and budget bill and include drastic cuts to health and safety net programs, including the possible elimination of RW Part F (incl. oral health), HOPWA and MAI. In addition, the US Dept. of Health and Human Services issued a press release last week saying that eligibility for “federal benefit programs” will be restricted to US citizens, although it is not clear yet if that will apply to Ryan White. Mr. Carr noted that he heard from someone at the NYS AIDS Institute that the administration may be rethinking cutting Part F dental programs.
Ms. Noble reported on the recent decision by the NYC Rent Guidelines Board to increase rents for rent-stabilized apartments by 3% for one-year leases and 4.5% for two-year leases, which will have an impact on Housing Services providers. It was noted that seniors eligible for an abatement called SCRIE are not subject to the increases.
The PSRA will approve spending plans today using the assumption of GY 2024 award amounts and service category allocations with adjustments made in the GY 2025 scenario plan approved by the Council in February (e.g., a $1.2M increase to Housing regardless of the size of the award, a $173K reduction to Psychosocial Support). It was also noted that as of GY 2026, there will be two EFA programs: one in NYC and one in TC. The plans reflect this by moving $250,000 of this service category allocation from the NYC Base plan to the TC plan. This is the amount of the original TC EFA allocation and represents 11% of the total EFA money.
In June, the Tri-County Steering Committee approved a GY 2026 application spending request that allocates a potential 5% increase evenly to Housing and Food and Nutrition Services (FNS).
A motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously to approve the GY 2026 Tri-County Base application spending plan as presented.
There are four categories funded by MAI: ADAP, Housing, Medical Case Management and Early Intervention Services. This goes back to the first year of the MAI award (c. 1998), and the Council has always planned for Base and MAI awards as one unified pot of money as all Base programs meet MAI requirements, but HRSA requires that allocations and expenditures be reported separately.
A motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously to approve the GY 2026 NYC MAI application spending plan with the entire potential increase allocated to Housing Services.
After some discussion that noted the potential elimination of Housing, rising costs for Housing and food, rollbacks in eligibility for SNAP benefits and other factors, there was a proposal to allocate the theoretical 5% increase in NYC Base programs to Housing, FNS and EFA proportionately weighted by ranking score.
A motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously to approve the GY 2026 NYC Base application spending plan with the potential increase allocated proportionately weighted by ranking score to Housing, FNS and EFA.
Mr. Klotz emphasized that when PSRA reconvenes in the fall and winter, the Committee will know more about reductions to MAI and other programs and will develop a scenario plan for potentially drastic reductions in funding. The scenario plan developed for such a scenario in GY 2025 can be used as a template.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
