It is rare that a state governor will be offered a grant from the federal government, and turn it down. That is exactly what Governor Doyle has done.
Only five states rejected the federal grant. Wisconsin is one of them.
Grant money would have been used by school districts that teach abstinence-only courses. Governor Doyle's rejection of $602, 958 in federal money will hurt efforts to instruct Wisconsin teenagers that abstinence is, and this is indisputable, the only method guaranteed to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases.
Acceptance of the federal grant money would not have cost the state. Doyle's rejection does cost the state.
According to the Wisconsin Abstinence Coalition, the federal dollars pay for the salary, benefits, and expenses of a state Abstinence Title V Program Consultant in the Department of Health and Family Services. The grant also pays for four of every seven dollars expected to be spent within a state's Title V program. There is a match requirement of three dollars for every federally awarded four dollars that Wisconsin passes on to the sub-grantees. Matching funds could come from State dollars, local government dollars, private sector dollars or in-kind support. Therefore, the target population in Wisconsin is losing $1,051,680 in program dollars.
UW-Madison sociology professor John DeLamater admits in the article linked above that as many as 12 percent of 13-year-olds have had sexual intercourse. I submit that is reason alone to teach abstinence.
I authored a bill that was signed into law last session that requires school districts that provide sex education to present abstinence as the most effective way to prevent pregnancy. It is shameful and somewhat hypocritical that the Governor would refuse to accept federal money that could provide much-needed public health information to Wisconsin youth.
The Wisconsin Legislative Council wrote the following to me about the federal grant:
The attached federal statute appears to be the source of the funding. The criteria under which the funding is to be spent are described in 42 USC 710 (b) (2), which in part provides that abstinence education has as its exclusive purpose teaching about the gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity and teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems.
As the Daily Cardinal article indicates, the executive branch is refusing the funding because it does not want to be locked into one approach to the problems of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases--it wants to use multiple approaches. Presumably, if the state took the funds and nevertheless taught multiple approaches to these problems, the state could be forced to repay the funds.
42 USC § 710. Separate program for abstinence education
(a) For the purpose described in subsection (b), the Secretary shall, for fiscal year 1998 and each subsequent fiscal year, allot to each State which has transmitted an application for the fiscal year under section 505(a) [42 USCS § 705(a)] an amount equal to the product of--
(1) the amount appropriated in subsection (d) for the fiscal year; and
(2) the percentage determined for the State under section 502(c)(1)(B)(ii) [42 USCS § 702(c)(1)(B)].
(b) (1) The purpose of an allotment under subsection (a) to a State is to enable the State to provide abstinence education, and at the option of the State, where appropriate, mentoring, counseling, and adult supervision to promote abstinence from sexual activity, with a focus on those groups which are most likely to bear children out-of-wedlock.
(2) For purposes of this section, the term "abstinence education" means an educational or motivational program which--
(A) has as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity;
(B) teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school age children;
(C) teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems;
(D) teaches that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity;
(E) teaches that sexual activity outside of the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects;
(F) teaches that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child's parents, and society;
(G) teaches young people how to reject sexual advances and how alcohol and drug use increases vulnerability to sexual advances; and
(H) teaches the importance of attaining self-sufficiency before engaging in sexual activity.
(c) (1) Sections 503, 507, and 508 [42 USCS §§ 703, 707, 708] apply to allotments under subsection (a) to the same extent and in the same manner as such sections apply to allotments under section 502(c) [42 USCS § 702(c)].
(2) Sections 505 and 506 [42 USCS §§ 705, 706] apply to allotments under subsection (a) to the extent determined by the Secretary to be appropriate.
(d) For the purpose of allotments under subsection (a), there is appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, an additional $ 50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1998 through 2003. The appropriation under the preceding sentence for a fiscal year is made on October 1 of the fiscal year.
