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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Malloy Proposes More Cuts for Seniors

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Wednesday, May 17, 2017   

HARTFORD, Conn. - A new round of proposed budget cuts in Connecticut would inflict more harm on programs that save the state money, according to advocates for seniors.

Gov. Dannel Malloy on Monday unveiled a budget blueprint that includes cuts to programs that help seniors remain in their homes, including eliminating the Community First Choice programs. According to Claudio Gualtieri, advocacy director for AARP Connecticut, the proposal compounds several years of cuts and places the burden of balancing the state budget on the shoulders of the most vulnerable.

"We've had co-pays added to the home-care program, Alzheimer's respite care cut, year after year, $6 million in aging-in-place funding canceled this year, elimination of care for seniors at risk of nursing home," he said, "and the list goes on."

Following a sharp decline in income-tax revenues, Malloy said further cuts are necessary to close an estimated $5 billion deficit in the state budget over the next two years. However, Gualtieri pointed out that just last week, Connecticut's business community recommended that the state provide more home- and community-based care through programs such as Community First Choice, which is funded through Medicaid.

"They estimated that Connecticut could save hundreds of millions over the long-term by making it more available for seniors and people with disabilities to choose to remain at home," he said.

Threatened cuts to Medicaid and other vital programs in the federal budget could further compound cuts to senior services on the state level, Gualtieri said, adding that when dealing with the state budget, Malloy and state lawmakers need to think strategically and plan for the future.

"Making short-term decisions that save money initially but that put us in a far worse place as a state and as a society in the long term is not good budgeting," Gualtieri said, "and it's not good policy making."


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