BOSTON - Groups which advocate for people with disabilities across the Bay State say the more than $32 billion state budget plan Gov. Deval Patrick released last week could carry a great human cost if enacted.
The budget would slash spending that supports thousands of persons with disabilities and their families. The spending blueprint calls for $5.5 million in cuts to family-support programs alone.
The governor has been sympathetic in the past, says Leo Sarkissian, executive director of The Arc of Massachusetts, but these proposed cuts are devastating.
"Basically, he's historically been a strong Community First proponent, and for families, but this budget takes away funding for about 2,200 families."
Sarkissian says 20,000 families across the state are eligible for assistance from family support. It's cost-effective, he says, because it allows many adults to continue to live with families at home where care is much less expensive than other options.
The Turning 22 program also is targeted for about $3 million in cuts. Sarkissian says that program helps students who will require adult services after high school, with the proposed cuts potentially leaving hundreds scrambling for options.
"These students who have intellectual disabilities ... will be facing a closed door - 500 of them, we think."
Gary Blumenthal, executive director of the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers, says these proposals are troubling but not final at this point.
"As revenues increase, we will ask the governor to reconsider these cuts and consider issuing a supplemental budget."
Blumenthal also sees ample opportunity to change the budget in the House and Senate before it returns to Patrick for his signature.
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The Keystone State continues offering a favorable landscape for Pennsylvanians seeking employment opportunities.
Claire Kovach, senior research analyst at the Keystone Research Center, said the steady trend has been ongoing for months, with the rate hovering below the national average of 4.1% during the past year.
"Pennsylvania is on a roll," Kovach asserted. "We added, I think, 15,600 jobs in June, and that's 11 months straight now that Pennsylvania has added jobs. The data we got showed that Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is still quite low through 3.4%, and it's been at that or around that for over a year now."
Kovach pointed out inflation is falling as nominal wages are growing steadily and the persistence of the combined effects is helping the labor market recover. She noted the number of nonfarm jobs rose to a record high of more than six million.
Kovach emphasized the largest increase in jobs in June was in education and health services.
"There's just some of the jobs that are most in demand," Kovach observed. "Jobs, especially like in health services, are consistently projected to be some of the most in-demand jobs over the next years and decades, especially in Pennsylvania. I believe leisure and hospitality also reached a record high in June."
Kovach added as the economy improves and nears full employment, the jobless rate will not continue to drop forever. It is expected to gradually stabilize at a low level, with the lowest so far at 3.2%.
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A coalition of South Dakota groups is voicing its opposition to a ballot measure intended to end a state sales tax on consumables.
If passed this November, Initiated Measure 28 would repeal the state's 4.2% sales tax on "anything sold for human consumption," including food and other products from toothpaste to tobacco, CBD and vaping products.
Sandra Waltman, director of public affairs for the South Dakota Education Association, said the teachers union opposes the repeal because it does not include a plan to replace the money the current tax contributes to education.
"Our main reason for opposing this is the lack of a plan for replacing the $176 million and what that will do, not only for K-12 students but for higher education," Waltman explained. "Districts would probably be looking at a very bare-bones budget."
Currently, Waltman said about 60% of public school funding comes from state coffers, and the other 40% from local property taxes. She called the potential effect on education "drastic," saying they could lead to fewer teachers, larger class sizes and cuts to newer resources like mental health support and programs for career and technical education.
Proponents of the measure said repealing the tax could help the nearly 9% of South Dakotans who are food insecure but Waltman countered the same people would likely feel the effects of underfunded school systems.
"To repeal one tax without a more broad conversation about how you replace that revenue is shortsighted, and we think you shouldn't just be repealing a tax without a plan."
Other groups opposing the measure include the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, South Dakotans Against a State Income Tax and the South Dakota Farm Bureau.
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North Dakota officials will highlight a new project today to boost childcare access for parents with nontraditional work hours.
A local provider likes what the state's been doing to help facilities and families but hopes for more action. Health and Human Services leaders will appear at a child care facility in Fargo to discuss a pilot initiative, giving operators financial incentives to increase capacity for childcare slots outside the hours of 7:30 a.m to 5:30 p.m.
Kathy Busche, owner of Kathy's Kids Daycare in Hazen, said she will need to see more details but would have interest in signing up. She explained it has been a big need in her area.
"We're right in the middle of coal country and so, a lot of our plant workers are working 12-hour shifts, starting at 6:30 in the morning," Busche observed. "We have hospital workers that are working 12-hour shifts."
The announcement is part of a series of investments the state adopted last year to ease the childcare burden felt across North Dakota. Busche noted she especially likes the inclusion grant to provide day care for kids with special needs. She feels the state could go further in offering incentives to retain staff.
The state has been providing a stipend, which maxes out at $3,600, to help stabilize the child care workforce. Busche emphasized her workers have already used up their portions.
"Now, there's really no incentives left to keep staff," Busche contended. "Without staff, we can't have more kids."
Busche feels the state should not write a "blank check" to address problems and wants policymakers to keep evaluating what is working. She hopes staff retention is among the topics state lawmakers revisit when they return to session early next year.
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