Editor's Column
by
Tim Benjamin
Have you been following what
is happening at the capitol? Governor Pawlenty and both parties
in the legislature seem to be indicating that we need significant
new investments in education, health care, and, topping the list,
transportation. Somewhere in the mix are property tax reduction and
a tax credit for caregivers. But the priorities and the budget available
seem to be a little out of whack. Anne Henry said it to me first: “Unless
there is some new revenue, there won’t be enough in the health and human
services, education and transportation budget to fund any of the important initiatives
for persons with disabilities in this session.”
Senator Linda Berglin
(DFL-Minneapolis) also recognized early on that there was not going
to be enough revenue to make up for the last four years of cuts
in health and human services. Berglin, chair of the Senate Health
and Human Services Budget division, focused on funding some truly
needed programs in order to start rebuilding. Some of her committee’s
priorities (not that we know any outcomes until the final vote)
are: eliminating pharmacy co-pays, service provider cost-of-living
adjustments and—one item that has bipartisan
support—the mental health initiative. Representative Thomas
Huntley’s (DFL-Duluth) House Omnibus Health
and Human Services bill also funds important changes such as increasing the MA income
and asset standard, covering the Medicare Part D co-pays for those
on MA, provider cost-of-living increases and initiating a new self-directed
option for PCA services.
And, please, don’t get me wrong; there are other worthy programs
out there that I truly believe need funding. I’m sure many
of you have your own priority list of funding needs. But we do have
to consider fiscal responsibility. If we are going to make progress
on any of the issues above, we need to raise taxes in a fair way.
The “budget surplus” that was all the talk earlier in
the session was really just one-time money left over from unspent
appropriations funds and money to covering inflation such as increase
fuel costs. It was not, as many had claimed, a sudden influx of extra
tax revenues due to a booming economy.
I want to thank all
of you that have kept us updated on legislative issues (i.e., all
the MN-CCD member organizations). I sure have not been able to
be at the capitol this year nearly as much as I would like. That’s
something I regret because (believe it or not) I do like all the
political action.
We have some changes coming
in our “Directory
of Organizations.” If
your organization is not listed in our directory this issue, please
contact us and for a very small fee we will include you in our four-times-a-year
print directory, and on the Web site we will give you space to describe
your organization. Starting in July the directory will have a completely
new look—with advertisement space available. So don’t
hesitate; put you’re advertisement first in Access Press’s
new “Directory of Organizations.”
We still have opportunities this year for organizations to sponsor a full issue of Access Press. Help ensure that Access Press is able
to continue to be your avenue to disseminate information that the
disability community needs.
This month we will begin
taking nominations for the 2007 Charlie Smith Award, which will
be presented at our banquet on November 2, 2007. So save the first
Friday evening in November to come and hang out with your friends
in the disability community—and help
us applaud the award winner that best exemplifies the principles
and spirit of the founder of Access Press, Charlie Smith! The nomination
forms are available online at our Web site.
We have been putting
a little snippet of the
past—or what
we call “history notes”—in the paper each month.
If there’s a piece of history that your organization would
like us to highlight, give us a call. ![]()
