Fw: LIFE! Update and Budget News

[Guest guest]

FYI

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeld

egskb@...

LIFE! Update and Budget News

Family Support Network Members and Friends. . ..

Budget Update

The House Human Services budget has been introduced. It is HB 3717, House

Amendment #1. Here's the link:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/97/HB/PDF/0970HB3717ham001.pdf

The Department of Human Services (DHS) budget starts on p. 45. There is not a

lot of detail and there are no comparative numbers, so you would need to know

what last year's funding levels were in order to determine cuts.

Tony auski has heard reports out of the Capitol which indicate DHS is being

cut by $500 - $600 million for possible across the board cuts of 10% to 12% but

he cannot confirm those numbers at this time. Tony has also heard that the state

institutions are also being cut.

There are now three budgets on the table, each based on different estimates for

the State of Illinois’ anticipated revenue next year. The House Budget is by

the far the most draconian. The Governor’s Budget is next. The Senate Budget

seems to be the most friendly “only†cutting services by 3% and restoring DD

grants but reducing them by 25%.

Call your legislators… TODAY!

Today we posted video from Juli Cicarelli talking about the importance of her

son’s services, his desire to live in the community, and her concern for the

21,000 children and adults on the “PUNS†database.

Did you know that you can view data from the “PUNS†(Priority of Urgency of

Need for Services) waiting list? Here’s the link:

http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=51905

LIFE Coalition on Illinois Channel!

http://www.illinoischannel.org/Network%20F.htm

Last week while we were in Springfield, Tony auski, Dorelia , and I

were interviewed by the Illinois Channel. It was quite an experience. But I

think it went really well. The link is above. Please share it with your

legislators and fellow advocates.

More Advocacy Efforts

This week, the LIFE Coalition has participated in THREE editorial boards; the

Daily Herald (Chicago suburbs), the Bloomington Pantagraph, and the Peoria

Journal Star. Watch for opinions from each of those papers soon.

The “LIFE – Fund Critical Services for People with Disabilities†Petition

We have a goal to send 10,000 signatures to this petition to our Governor and

the Caucus leaders…. Have you signed on yet? It takes less than a minute. Then

make sure that all your friends and family sign on. AND, OF COURSE, send it to

your fellow advocates and advocacy groups.

This is the message:

“I support LIFE - Living with Independence, Fairness & Equality! Fund critical

services for people with disabilities!

It is time to balance the Developmental Disability System in Illinois to provide

quality of life for people with disabilities and for the State of Illinois to

spend taxpayer money in the most economical and responsible way. We need to end

the waiting list for the 21,000 adults and children in the PUNS database and

restore $76.3 million that funds critical community developmental disability

services and adopt a four-year plan to phase out the funding of state

institutions!â€

This is the link: http://www.thearcofil.org/LIFE/LifeCampaignPetition.aspx

Another Great Resource and Petition

I’m having a great time reviewing the videos and information on the website

www.fundourfriends.com.

They’ve got a great petition, too. I say, “If one petition is good, TWO is

better.†So please sign them both!

Thank you, thank you, thank you…. Charlotte

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As always, let us know if you don’t want to be included in future

informational Family Support Network e-mails. We’ll be glad to take you off

our lists.

Just reply to this e-mail with REMOVE in the subject line.

On the other hand, if you appreciate the work of the Family Support Network and

The Arc of Illinois in these difficult times, please become a member! Here’s a

link to our membership brochure. We NEED you!

http://www.familysupportnetwork.org/miscellaneous%20pdfs/2009%20Membership%20Bro\

chure.pdf