skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Budget Cuts Threaten CT Independent Living Centers

play audio
Play

Thursday, June 15, 2017   

HARTFORD, Conn. – Advocates for people with disabilities say cutting funding for the state's independent living centers would cost Connecticut millions of dollars.

In his efforts to close the state's $5.5 billion, two-year budget shortfall, Gov. Dannel Malloy has proposed eliminating the entire $529,000 of state funding for the centers.

The five centers help people with disabilities find housing, services and jobs so they can stay out of nursing facilities that are generally paid for by Medicaid, with the state picking up part of the tab.

Eileen Healy, chair of the Connecticut Association of Centers for Independent Living, maintains cutting state funds would be penny wise and pound foolish.

"We transitioned 233 people back into community living last year, and we estimate that that saves, on an annual basis, about $11 million," she points out.

Funding already had been reduced to $372,000 for the current fiscal year, and then cut further by the governor to just $200,000.

Healy says the General Assembly's Appropriations Committee has proposed $250,000 in funding, and a Republican budget proposal would raise it back to $372,000.

"It kind of goes back and forth,” Healy states. “I'm thankful that we're in the budgets at all and that we're not being cut, but it's still not where we would like to be."

Healy notes the centers do have other funding streams, but those have restrictions on how the money is used – which makes the state funding essential.

"These are the dollars that we tend to refer to as our 'core money,'” she points out. “It's what keeps the lights on. It's what funds the basic services that we provide."

Healy adds the centers not only save the state money, they also improve the quality of the life for hundreds of people with disabilities.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021