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Police and pro-Palestinian demonstrators clash in tense scene at UCLA encampment; PA groups monitoring soot pollution pleased by new EPA standards; NYS budget bolsters rural housing preservation programs; EPA's Solar for All Program aims to help Ohioans lower their energy bills, create jobs.

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Campus Gaza protests continue, and an Arab American mayor says voters are watching. The Arizona senate votes to repeal the state's 1864 abortion ban. And a Pennsylvania voting rights advocate says dispelling misinformation is a full-time job.

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Bidding begins soon for Wyoming's elk antlers, Southeastern states gained population in the past year, small rural energy projects are losing out to bigger proposals, and a rural arts cooperative is filling the gap for schools in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

WI Mother: Too Many State Budget Decisions are “Soulless”

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Wednesday, June 15, 2011   

MADISON, Wis. - As the state budget battle heats up again this week, a Madison parent says too many important decisions are being made simply along party lines.

Barbara Katz is an organizer with Wisconsin Families Forward, a group fighting against a possible freeze on programs such as Family Care and Children's Long-Term Support waivers, Both programs help families of children with developmental disabilities. Katz insists these should not be partisan issues.

"People with disabilities are not solely Republicans, they're not solely Democrats, they're not solely independents and they're not solely libertarians. People with disabilities are throughout our community, across all political ideologies."

Family Care and Children's Long-Term Support waivers, programs from the era of Gov. Tommy Thompson, were carefully thought out and put into place by legislators on both sides of the aisle, Katz says, suggesting that individual lawmakers consider more than their political affiliations when deciding on budget matters.

"They need to search their hearts and say, 'Do we need to put all of our resources into road-building, or are we looking to support the citizenry of the state?'"

The Walker administration says cuts and caps on entitlement programs are needed to balance the state budget.

In Wisconsin's politically charged atmosphere, Katz says, too many decisions are being made without sufficient consideration of the human costs.

"Decisions are being made that I would consider soulless decisions. I really feel like decisions are being made on party line, without really considering the impact that decisions will be made on families."

The freeze on Family Care and Children's Long-Term Support waivers is scheduled to begin at the end of the month. Katz believes it will devastate families of people with disabilities, causing economic hardship to many and forcing some young people back into institutional settings.


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