ST. PAUL, Minn. - Hundreds of people with disabilities and their advocates from across the state filled the State Capitol rotunda on Tuesday to protest a "cuts only" approach to balancing the state budget. One issue at stake is ongoing cuts to the state's personal care assistance (PCA) program, which provides in-home care that allows people with disabilities to live independently.

Pat Mellenthin, executive director of The Arc of Minnesota, says while lawmakers face a difficult job balancing the state budget, they need to look beyond the bottom line.

"We have got to really look at what the impact is, not only fiscally, but on human life. And I think we've got to really look at how we can get better at serving people who have needs – not just cutting for the sake of cutting, which helps no one and oftentimes costs us more in the long run."

Minnesota's new assessment for eligibility went into effect last year, and more than 4,800 people saw their PCA hours reduced or eliminated. In July 2011, when more stringent eligibility requirements begin, an additional 2,200 individuals – mostly children – will see their PCA support eliminated.

Betsy Davies adopted four special needs children and is in the process of adopting two others. During the adoptions, Davies says she was assured she would receive support to address the children's needs. But last year, her two oldest sons' PCA hours were cut by half. This July, she says, the family may be facing further cuts.

"They're taking money away from the most vulnerable children that we have to take care of, and that's not the place to cut money; that's not the place to make budgets balance. Children should not be budget cuts."

Rick Cardenas proudly calls himself "the second-oldest quadriplegic in the State of Minnesota." After years of support, his total PCA hours have been trimmed back under new state guidelines. Cardenas says he is no longer able to access additional help when health emergencies arise.

"Even though I am in a wheelchair and I've lived with a disability for over 50 years, I tore a rotator cuff, which really made me feel disabled. It was my eating arm, my drinking arm, my writing arm, my computer arm. I just lost a lot of function, and so I actually need more hours than what I'm getting."

Rep. Larry Hosch (DFL-St. Joseph) authored the original house bill that made the PCA program cuts. He says he hopes his colleagues begin to see the human impact of their decisions.

"Oftentimes we get desensitized by spreadsheets and the bottom line, and we need to be able to see the face in the decisions that we make. I did my best to minimize the personal impact that this would have, but I know that there is a real impact to it. I hope that story gets told so it doesn't have to happen again this year, or next year, or a couple years down the road."



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Today, groups working with lower-income families in Connecticut are raising awareness about the state's "benefits cliff" with a day of action.

The benefits cliff is when a person might get a raise, have a kid with a part-time job, or some other income increase which then makes them ineligible for certain benefits. The changes can have severe impacts on communities and disproportionately affect families with children.

Stephen Monroe Tomczak, professor of social work at Southern Connecticut State University, said it is part of a larger workforce problem.

"People, particularly people of low income, are in a sense disincentivized to participate in the labor force and denied adequate jobs and income when they try to do that," Tomczak explained.

Several General Assembly budget bills could have dealt with the issue but most failed, which inspired today's action, a mock funeral procession to the governor's office to eulogize the bills, including the refundable Child Tax Credit, a housing voucher funding boost bill, and a bill eliminating the asset limit on the HUSKY C medical insurance program.

Social service advocates know the bills will resurface in next year's budget process.

Rose Ferraro, program lead of health justice policy advocacy for the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, said people are taking alternate steps like going to food banks or avoiding medical care to cover lost benefits.

"Folks will lose their rental assistance and then, they will sort of have to make some tough decisions," Ferraro noted. "'Do I put food on my table or do I make sure to pay rent?' And, so it becomes a sort of untenable position."

Ferraro added interwoven state and federal funding makes it hard to reach the core of the issues leading to benefits cliffs. One eulogized bill would have established a benefits cliff pilot program. For two years, it would have provided subsistence for people who've reached the benefits cliff.

New York towns are reaping many benefits since the Inflation Reduction Act was passed.

Along with funds for larger clean energy projects, the state was awarded $158 million for the IRA's Home Energy Rebates program.

Smaller towns and villages use these grants to implement their climate action plans.

Brighton Town Councilmember Robin Wilt said an IRA grant they applied for will help upgrade the town's HVAC system.

"We will be implementing geothermal and then use a solar array to make the system close to net zero, not quite," said Wilt. "I think we'll get 55% of our energy back with the solar panels."

The bureaucratic process to access the funding was challenging, but some groups are working with the Department of Energy to improve it.

Wilt said feedback on the clean energy projects has been positive. Future projects using IRA funding include increasing walkability and sustainable redevelopment.

Critics have said the IRA includes multiple provisions to increase fossil fuel production.

Towns nationwide are using IRA grants to bolster clean energy projects.

Joel Hicks is a council member for the Borough of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

They've just applied for a grant to work on energy efficiency and solar projects with Harrisburg. He said this will have positive impacts beyond establishing clean energy.

"We were really excited at this potential," said Hicks, "because we saw that the cost savings we would have for putting in substantial solar projects on our public property would actually fund many of our other public municipal goals."

These include purchasing an electric vehicle fleet and having more efficient solid waste programs.

One thing Hicks said he wants to see in future is state and local governments helping small towns and municipalities with putting together their IRA grant proposals.

A new report analyzes Pennsylvania's existing voucher programs, that divert public funds to private schools.

This comes on the heels of Gov. Josh Shapiro's plan to create a new voucher program for K-12 students.

Diana Polson - senior policy analyst with the Keystone Research Center - said last year's Commonwealth Court decision ruled that Pennsylvania's system of funding public education is unconstitutional, therefore the state doesn't have a dollar to waste on expanding existing private-school voucher programs or creating a new one.

"The basic-education funding commission estimated the state must pay $5.1 billion over the next seven years to make sure our public schools are funded equitably and adequately," said Polson. "Meanwhile, our report finds that existing private-school voucher programs are siphoning millions from taxpayers with little to show for it."

Supporters argue that vouchers let children leave under-performing public schools and get a better education at private schools.

Polson said Pennsylvania's voucher programs have no "meaningful educational or financial accountability," so they really have no way of knowing if these programs operate as intended or are beneficial to low-income or moderate-income students.

Polson said the report reveals that the programs have grown, and just this year they will cost the state nearly $500 million.

However, these voucher programs exclude students in rural areas, because there are few if any participating private schools in these regions.

Local public schools remain the primary option for most rural families.

"We also found that private schools receiving these funds are allowed to - and do - routinely discriminate against students for reasons including disabilities, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and more," said Polson. "These programs are also exclusive. They subsidize the state's most elite and expensive private schools as well as affluent families."

Polson said the report reveals that the Independent Fiscal Office estimated that the average EITC program scholarship was $2,314, while the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit was slightly less at around $2,000.

The cost of attending one of the top 25 private schools in Pennsylvania is around $41,000 per year. This means these schools are still out of reach for many low- and moderate-income families.