News, Views, and Information about Disability

Disability News, Views, Information, and Literature

Saturday, January 19, 2013

1/28/13: Please Testify on Cuts to DEL & General Assistance

This announcement is from Chris Rusnov of Maine Equal Justice and Larry Dansinger of Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC). Please share widely (and quickly, if possible), and feel free to cross-post.
There is a public hearing on the Supplemental Budget to deal with the 2013 budget deficit. It will take place on Monday, Jan. 28 before the Appropriations Committee in room 228 of the State House. The governor proposes to eliminate the Drugs for the Elderly and Disabled program (DEL) and to reduce General Assistance spending by half. The committee will hear testimony on DEL at 10:00am and on General Assistance at 1:00pm. 
Please help identify people who might be affected by these cuts. It is critical to help legislators understand how these cuts will affect people served by these programs. We are looking for any senior or person with disabilities who gets help paying for their prescription medicines through DEL, and any individual or family who has received help from General Assistance in the past year (especially great if help from GA enabled them to continue working or prevented homelessness). 
Once you have identified a person, ask them to call me or get their permission for me to call them. I will talk with them to make sure they will be affected, and if they agree, will help them write down their story. 
With your help, we may be able to stop these cuts. 
Chris Rusnov
Maine Equal Justice
126 Sewall St., Augusta 04330
207-626-7058 ext 204
1-866-626-7059 ext 204