People with disabilities need their government to work
by Katy
Last month, President Obama unveiled his budget recommendations for the fiscal year 2012 that begins on October 1, 2011. The president’s budget does not have the force of law. But, its recommendations will have significant weight with the democratic-controlled Senate. A number of key programs that support the independence of people with disabilities are slated for increases, including:
- Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),
- lifespan respite, and
- the National Family Caregivers Support Act.
We at Easter Seals feel REALLY good about these proposed increases. President Obama’s proposed budget gives us strength to leverage in the upcoming debate, which has already been eventful. As you know from reading the paper and watching the news last week, the House of Representatives debated the spending bill to continue funding the federal government through the end of the current fiscal year (FY 2011) which ends on September 30, 2011.
After 5 days and more than 500 amendments, the House passed a bill on Saturday that cut more than 12 percent of funding from the current year for programs in the areas of labor, health, human services, and education. They cut border patrol, they cut homeland security, and they even proposed a cut to IDEA — these three areas had previously been labeled as top priorities for the new House leadership.
These cuts will not become law. The president issued a statement saying he would veto this bill if it made its way to him. Congress then decided to kick the can down the street and passed another short term spending bill that funds the government through March 18th. Yesterday, Vice President Biden hosted a session with House and Senate democratic and republican leaders to hammer out the details of a spending bill that gets us through the end of September.
People with disabilities need their government to work. And for a government to work, government agencies must know what their budgets are.