AIDS FUNDING HIKE SEEN : WILSON TO ASK FOR 40% INCREASE IN SPENDING.

Byline: Steven A. Capps San Francisco Examiner 

Gov. Pete Wilson will propose a dramatic increase in AIDS spending in his new state budget, according to senior administration officials.

The governor will ask for $178.8 million for various AIDS programs, an increase of more than 40 percent over current spending, in the budget he will present to the Legislature on Thursday, officials told The Examiner.

``It is a comprehensive approach to the epidemic, from new research to education and prevention to care and treatment,'' said one top health agency official.

As of Nov. 30, there were 34,627 Californians living with AIDS, according to state health officials.

Wilson also will ask the Legislature for immediate approval of a shift of $18 million in federal funds into a program to provide drugs to low-income people living with HIV, the officials said. The program, the Aids Drug Assistance Program, or ADAP, is facing a shortfall this year.

In one controversial element of the plan for the next fiscal year, the Wilson administration for the first time will ask California cities to transfer some of their own federal AIDS funds back to the state to help support ADAP.

Specifically, the state is asking the cities to give up a $12.9 million augmentation in federal AIDS funds they are expected to receive later this year.

The two cities that would be most affected would be San Francisco and Los Angeles, which receive the majority of federal AIDS funds in California.

``New York already does this,'' said one top administration official. ``We feel California cities have really lagged behind in this area. ``The key thing to remember here is we're expanding this program.''

Current ADAP spending in California totals about $55.7 million. Wilson is proposing an increase to $100.2 million, with the money coming from both state and federal sources.

Besides putting more money into ADAP, the new budget also will include more money for targeted education and for research in conjunction with the University of California, according to documents provided by the administration.

The education element will target intravenous drug users, who are experiencing an unexplainable increase in HIV infection, officials said.

The $2.1 million education program will include expansion of street outreach programs, mobile vans and HIV testing.

Two major research projects, at a cost of about $500,000 each, will be undertaken, according to officials. One would conduct a study of the effect of anti-retroviral drugs on HIV transmission, and the other into research for a new test for HIV infection.

The budget also calls for $3.8 million to initiate viral load testing, which doctors say is the most effective way to monitor progression of the disease.

Overall, current spending on various AIDS-related programs in California totals about $125 million in state and federal funds.

News of the increase in AIDS spending was just the latest in a series of leaks from the administration on new or expanded programs in Wilson's proposed state budget for the 1997-98 fiscal year.