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Senate
urged to restore elderly, disabled aid AUSTIN - A coalition of groups representing the elderly and disabled wants the Senate to restore services today during its debate on the budget that would otherwise take away home health care for tens of thousands of Texans. "We refuse to pit the elderly, individuals with disabilities and children against each other. Citizens all over the state, regardless of age or disability, stand to lose the public safety net of health and long-term services," said Susan Murphree, a spokeswoman for Advocacy Inc., a nonprofit group looking out for the interests of Texans with disabilities. State lawmakers are considering major spending cuts to close a $10 billion budget shortfall without raising taxes. Tens of thousands of elderly and disabled Texans could lose in-home health care, including help with dressing, bathing and eating. "And we cannot forget the 90,000 still waiting for those services. They will not disappear quietly into the background," she said. More than 200,000 people who get Medicaid prescription drugs also stand to lose that benefit under the budget proposal. "I am very, very concerned," said El Pasoan Conrad Ramirez, a leader of AARP, who attended a Capitol news briefing Monday. But budget writers defend their plan. "This proposal is one that I believe meets the needs of both our neediest citizens and needs of the taxpayers out there who are trying to make ends meet," said Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound. She disputed warnings that the proposed budget would throw any elderly or disabled person into the streets. If so, she volunteered to pick them up herself. "Better get a big car," Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, told Nelson. Any health and human services cuts would be devastating because Texas already ranks at the bottom compared to other states, said Bob Kafka, a leader for American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today. If they don't restore home care or community service cuts, lawmakers will hear from thousands of Texans, said Bruce Bower, spokesman for the Texas Senior Advocacy Coalition. "These are people who can do absolutely nothing to alter their circumstances and people who did nothing to bring themselves into those circumstances," he said. To help deal with the budget shortfall, scores of organizations have started a petition to modernize the state's tax system to generate more revenue. Copyright ©
2002 Global Action on Aging
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