Western PA ADAPT

Members of Pennsylvania ADAPT called on the Pennsylvania Legislature on June 11 to fund  people first. ADAPT rallied to demand that legislators preserve investments in vital services that impact the lives of disabled Pennsylvanians. ADAPT is a national grass-roots community that organizes disability rights activists to engage in nonviolent direct action,  including civil disobedience, to assure the civil and human rights of people with disabilities to live in freedom.

Last month, the state Senate passed a budget bill that would have made deep cuts to education, health care, services for the elderly and disabled, and countless other areas. It would have spent $1.7 billion less than Governor Ed Rendell’s proposed budget, which itself includes $1 billion in service cuts and funding reductions. Last week, the state House Appropriations Committee rejected the Senate bill.

June 30 is the deadline for approving a new state budget on time. Budget cuts must be made as the state faces a revenue shortfall of at least $3 billion. The failed Senate plan relied on cuts to balance the budget, rejecting other options. The failed proposed budget was full of inefficiency and fat that could be cut, while leaving services to Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens intact.

ADAPT’s position is that our legislators need to work to fund people first. Cuts to vital services for the disabled would be fiscally and morally irresponsible. Regardless of the funds that cutting these services would save immediately, the cost to the state would ultimately increase if the cuts are made. Some disabled people might be placed in “germ-infested” nursing homes and the state would end up paying more to support them there.

Let your Pennsylvania legislators know that you want them to make sure that the approved state budget funds people first. Ask them to support a budget which roughly maintains current funding for disabled programs.

http://www.disabilityoptionsnetwork.org/stategovernment.php

On May 6, on a party-line vote, the Pennsylvania Senate passed a budget proposal that would make deep cuts in most state services and programs. The Bill (S.B. 850) is currently being reviewed by the members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Senate passage of this bill is quite unusual. Normally, state budgets begin in the House and work their way to the Senate, not the other way around. Despite S.B. 850’s passage in the majority Republican Senate, House Democrats will soon debate and pass their own version and send it over to the Senate.

S.B. 850 would make deep cuts to key programs would force more disabled people out of their homes and into nursing homes. Funding for severely disabled adults in Attendant Care and other community-based programs would be slashed by almost 20%. Factoring in federal funds and additional ARRA (stimulus funds), the total cut from the Governor’s proposed budget would be more than 14%.

Although times are tough, cutting vital programs is not the answer. Cuts to state services not only harm vulnerable residents but also worsen the recession by reducing overall economic activity.

You Can Help!
Please contact your senator and/or representative and let them know that approval of this proposed budget would be fiscally and morally irresponsible. Use the link below to find your state Senator or Representative:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/find.cfm

Enter your zip code to find who represents you. Clink on your Senator or Representative’s name to get his or her e-mail and street address.