February 22, 2008

The Senate and House Appropriations Committees passed new appropriations bills this past week.  By most accounts, these bills will not proceed through the process for any votes unless radically modified by leadership.  But we must take action to assure we stop these bills.

PLEASE CONSIDER THESE TALKING POINTS AND TAKE ACTION.

·         While these bills finally acknowledge the need for and protect some health and human services, these bills are still clearly a wrong approach and unacceptable. 

·         For example: these bills propose to essentially eliminate General Assistance, reduce Healthy Families child abuse prevention by $1.5 million,  reduce the Independent Living Stipend for foster children by $1 million - bad for our foster youth,   eliminate the Summer Youth Employment & Training for $1.2 million.  The Housing Trust Fund is swept for $12 million.  Neither the Department of Economic Security supplemental appropriation nor the Department of Health Services supplemental for 2008 are not addressed leaving many services for vulnerable families, foster children and vulnerable adults at serious risk.

·         Moreover, the worse part of these bills is their mixed bag of lump sum cuts forced on the health and human services agencies combined with designated protected programs without using any bonding for schools.  This will force deeper and more draconian cuts to remaining programs like Adult Protective Services, domestic violence shelter and services, aging home and community based independent living programs, vocational rehabilitation match programs, child care programs, and public health programs. 

·         THE SAFETY NET BECOMES EVEN MORE CRITICAL IN ECONOMIC DOWNTURNS.  And will be more critical the longer and deeper any downturn continues as it impacts more poor and vulnerable families and adults.

·         And we know from Nobel Prize economists' analysis, that reducing services for low income services people is one of the worst things you can do to a state's economy.  (CBPP News Release January 17, 2002)

·         Reasonable options include: Bonding for school construction financing, use of the raining day, rollover of school operations funding, careful fund sweeps, and careful cuts avoiding slash and burn across the board cuts which can devastate programs and put children and families at risk. 

·         Reasonable people will not balance the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable, children and vulnerable adults.   All other options will be exercised first.

03-25-2008

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