30 Ways in 30 Days: Pennsylvanians with Disabilities

Cuts Would Reduce Services for Hundreds of Disabled Pennsylvanians
 
Proposed funding cuts in Senate-passed bill brought advocates out earlier this month to argue that such cuts would amount to 'a prison sentence for people with disabilities,' one advocate told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
 
HARRISBURG (June 24, 2009) - Pennsylvanians living with disabilities often rely on caregivers to handle such daily tasks as making breakfast, maintaining their homes and getting to work.
 
With a Senate-passed budget bill proposing to cut 10% from the Governor's $435 million funding request for several key programs for the disabled, advocates turned out earlier this month for a rally at the Capitol in support of keeping that funding intact, according to a report in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
 
Advocates with the Disability Budget Coalition talked at the rally about the devastating impact the proposed reductions to the governor's budget plan would have. Read the Post-Gazette report here.
 
"This is a prison sentence for people with disabilities," coalition member Sandi Weber told the newspaper. "This budget makes no sense."
 
The Lancaster Sunday News also reported on the proposed cuts to the governor's budget request for disability services included in Senate Bill 850. While that bill was rejected by the House Appropriations Committee on June 8, several of the cuts included in it are still under consideration in the Legislature.
 
The Sunday News reported that 5,700 people with disabilities receive care through the federal Attendant Care Waiver, which allows Medicaid dollars to pay for their home care, while another 2,300 receive services through state funding for attendant care. Read the Sunday News story here.

Return to 30 Ways in 30 Days Service Cuts Will Hurt Pennsylvanians.