What's a lawmaker to do if he wants to find more money to pay for airport runways? In Michigan, one state lawmaker is proposing that the state stop funding all HIV-prevention efforts, and instead transfer about $9 million in cash over to the Michigan Aeronautics Fund, where the money can be spent on airports instead.

"This is so we don’t have to raise the fuel tax on our airplanes,” State Rep. Dave Agema told the Michigan Messenger, which broke the story.

After all, what are a few thousand human lives compared to saving money on fuel? Outrageous.

What would happen if the $9 million that goes toward the Michigan Health Fund Initiative were funneled to airports? Public health experts in Michigan say that it would directly impact the ability to provide free and confidential HIV-testing at health centers across the state. It would also eliminate the risk reduction education and counseling that many health centers do, and could also jeopardize the ability to assist those who test HIV-positive in contacting former partners or others who might have been exposed to HIV.

And that sounds like a total, absolute disaster for health care in the state of Michigan. Send Michigan lawmakers a message that this proposal from Rep. Agema is inappropriate and misguided. Yes, Michigan is going through a budget crisis, and needs to come up with creative ways to cut spending. But elminating funding for HIV-prevention programs, all to keep taxes on airplane fuel lower, is morally bankrupt and bad news for the long-term health of the state.