Brown's budget plan vague and rushed, advocates for developmentally disabled say

Sacramento Bee ^ | 2/4/11 | Jack Chang

[SmithL]

Lawmakers and advocates for the developmentally disabled on Thursday slammed as vague and too rushed Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to cut $750 million from developmental services.

Most areas of Brown's budget proposal include specific reductions, but the plan lists only $216.5 million in detailed cuts in the Department of Developmental Services. The budget asks for another $533.5 million in unspecified reductions, with the department expected to come up with ideas by the end of March.

"I think we need to really look at the issue in a more full manner than just say, 'We're going to have an arbitrary number put into the cuts,'" Assemblyman Jim Beall, D-San Jose, said at a legislative hearing Thursday. "I don't think people with developmental disabilities deserve that."

Hundreds of disabled people and their advocates jammed an Assembly budget hearing demanding legislators fight Brown's proposal.

[SmithL]

Go gore somebody else's ox!

[Nervous Tick]

I hope the illegal’s ox gets the HECK gored out of it.

[Redleg Duke]

Threatening bureaucrats is always dangerous.

[luckystarmom]

As a Californian mom of a special needs kids, it’s always irked me that illegals get all sorts of help from California, but we get barely anything.

My daughter goes to private school because the schools in the area suck.

My daughter goes to private speech therapy because speech therapy is only provided to kids in public school, and even then it’s minimal.

The public schools would not provide a reading program for my daughter, but they do provide it for illegals (in the guise of support for low-income kids).

I’m not asking for services, but I would at least like a tax break!