The Next Two Years

Kids need healthy parents as well as pre-K programs.  This isn’t an either/or equation – it’s both/and. 

And yet, last week the NC Department of Health and Human Services announced a plan to take $5 million of AIDS Drug Assistance Program funding to help pay for an expansion of the state’s pre-kindergarten program.

That plan wasn’t made in a vacuum.

That plan was made in the aftermath of two years of policy debates over how to manage our state’s budget and how to meet our state’s most pressing human needs – decisions that have too often positioned managing the budget and meeting our most pressing human needs as an either/or equation, rather than a both/and.

This is far from the first time this year that one worthy cause has been pitted against another because policymakers have refused to take a balanced approach to solving our state budget problems.  And if things don’t change in this election, it won’t be the last.

This election will decide what the next two years look like for HIV/AIDS advocates – and as HIV/AIDS advocates, it’s our responsibility to exercise our right to vote. 

By voting, we can help to ensure that we have elected officials who care about the needs of people living with and at risk for HIV.  By voting, we can help to ensure that we have elected officials who bring the vision and leadership needed to solve our budget problems in ways that meet our human needs.

That’s why we’re urging the 10,000+ members of NCAAN’s Action Team to cast their ballots during the early voting period, now through Saturday, November 3^rd.

Please join me in making an early voting plan and sticking with it.  Simply look up your nearest early voting location here and then pick out a time that fits your schedule. 

My plan: Go to Town Hall with my spouse before work tomorrow.  (Making plans to vote with family/friends is a great way to make voting more fun and make sure you stick to your plan.)

Voting early will ensure that your ballot is cast no matter what unexpected things might happen on November 6^th.  And, most importantly, it will ensure that your vote will help to determine who serves in elected office in the coming years.