ST PAUL – May 13, 2010 – A fee increase included in the recently approved state budget agreement is a tax on families who have children with disabilities, said The Arc of Minnesota, an advocacy group for persons with intellectual and other developmental disabilities.
“Why are we targeting families who are trying to raise their children with disabilities?” asked Pat Mellenthin, Executive Director of The Arc of Minnesota. “They already face substantial costs in raising their children with disabilities, including fees for the services they need to keep their children at home. Many of these parents had been previously hit with a huge jump in their fees. They don’t need -- or deserve -- to be taxed further.”
Minnesota legislative leaders and the Governor agreed on a plan to resolve the state budget deficit late Sunday night, May 16th. The Minnesota Legislature approved that agreement in a brief special session on May 17th. Included in that agreement is a fee increase for several hundred families who have children with disabilities and access services for their children through Medical Assistance. The fee increase would take effect on July 1, 2010. These fees were increased dramatically in 2003. At that time, some middle-income families saw their fees increase by as much as 200% or more; families of about 7,000 children were affected then. The monthly increase just approved will mean that a middle-income family of four earning $60,000 will see their fee rise by another 8.7%. Many families earning higher incomes will see increasingly larger percentage increases.
“To balance our state budget, we don’t have to single out families who struggle daily to meet their children’s needs,” Mellenthin continued. “Our legislators can raise revenues more fairly and more broadly and not target families with disabilities. They can fund innovative ways of providing services that can save the state money and improve their quality. They can fund programs that help keep families together, maintain the independence of people with disabilities, and spend tax dollars more cost-effectively.”
The Arc of Minnesota supports a number of the provisions in the budget agreement. “The bill does not include any rate cuts to providers of services that help people maintain their independence in the community. These services are more cost-effective than services in larger institutions,” said Steve Larson, The Arc of Minnesota’s Public Policy Director. “It also funds an innovative program to measure the satisfaction of services – one that involves people with disabilities and helps ensure that our disability services are improving their lives.” In addition, the bill will require state government agencies providing disability services to cooperate with organizations like The Arc of Minnesota to submit a report each year to legislators. This report will help measure how well different state programs are meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities and their families. This measure was part of The Arc of Minnesota’s Community Counts! initiative. Click on the following link to our website to find a press release on this initiative: http://tinyurl.com/28k3tzx
The Arc of Minnesota provides advocacy and support for persons with intellectual and other developmental disabilities and their families so they can choose how they live, learn, work, and play in their communities. It has 5,400 members and 12 affiliated chapters statewide.
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Mike Gude, Communications Manager
The Arc of Minnesota
mikeg@arcmn.org
800 Transfer Road, Suite 7A
St. Paul, MN 55114
651-523-0823 or 1-800-582-5256, ext. 113
651-523-0829 (fax)
www.TheArcOfMinnesota.org
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