Rally Against Cuts

Hello Fellow Advocates,

According to the Miami Herald and other news outlets, Governor Rick Scott is going to cut the APD budget effective immediately, up to 25% to cover deficits. The fact is, the legislature has a process to deal with the budget issues like this. The House currently has funding slated to take care of the deficit. The Senate doesn't have that money in, but that is why they go to conference to decide how to address the problem. For Governor Scott to do this is irresponsible. He can say all he wants about living within our means, but the reality is this population has been cut 20% over the past 3 years and there is no way providers are going to be able to absorb these additional cuts without having devastating effects on the most vulnerable in our society. The cold hard truth is that Governor Scott could care less about your child or adult with a disability. If he did, he would meet with constituents, caregivers, families and providers and would work with the legislature to address the deficit responsibly. He would know that making these cuts is heartless and borders on criminal.

The reality is this, thousands of people who have budgets ranging from $14,000 and up are going to be devastated by this action. How do you tell someone to choose between taking special transportation or the bus to your job or eating dinner tonight? How do you tell someone that they can no longer go to their program, because there is nobody there to provide the services or the services are no longer safe because there is not staff? Where are we going to house the people when their group home is closed due to funding cuts? Will Governor Scott have a bed at his house for them?

In closing, I think it is appropriate that this action is being implemented on April Fool's day.
Could there be a crueler joke?

We will be holding a rally on April 6, 2011 in Tallahassee. Please make every effort to attend. More information to come shortly.

Regards,
Ven Sequenzia
vsequenzia@aol.com
President
Autism Society of America
State of Florida Chapter