Make Your Budget Priorities Heard!
State Representatives are currently working on the House's version of the budget for the next year, and the Senate will start soon. We have to tell them what funding our communities need!
The state budget impacts everyone—it includes funding for health care, transportation, housing, education, and more. There's lots to support, but DPC is focusing on four priorities:
No cuts to the PCA program: MassHealth has proposed a cut of $100 million to the Personal Care Attendant program. We staunchly oppose these cuts, which will lead to people lacking the care they need to stay healthy and independent in the community. Stay tuned for more advocacy around this!
The Alternative Housing Voucher Program: AHVP provides rental assistance to low-income adults with disabilities. It provides vouchers that people can use to rent apartments anywhere in Massachusetts. The Governor lowered the funding for this program in her budget. We are pushing for the program to get an increase, to a total of $30 million. We have to make sure that the money that the program didn't spend this year, will stay with it into the future.
The Affordable, Accessible Housing Grants: these grants help fund the construction of affordable, accessible housing. When they are completed, someone with an AHVP voucher will be prioritised to move in. Since there is so little accessible housing, funding to build more is necessary! The governor did not include this in her budget at all.
Increase funding for the MassAccess registry: an online list of accessible, affordable apartments and houses available to rent or buy. Increased funding will allow the groups that keep it up to date to make technological improvements.
—R Feynman
Senior Community Organizer
Disability Policy Consortium
