Phoenix, AZ – Today, Governor Katie Hobbs released a statement following the legislature’s failure to advance a bill to fund programs for Arizonans with disabilities and their caregivers:
“It is beyond disappointing that members of the legislature have once again failed to do their job by ensuring the critical services that support Arizonans with developmental disabilities remain funded. This negligence jeopardizes the health, independence, and lives of more than 50,000 Arizonans who depend on the Division of Developmental Disabilities for health services and support for independent living.
“The legislature’s failure to act is both inhumane and fiscally irresponsible. Without these vital services, eligible Arizonans with disabilities will be at increased risk of institutionalization — which would result in significantly more restrictive and unnecessarily expensive care.
“By refusing to pass this bill, legislators are telling hardworking families caring for loved ones with autism, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, and other intellectual or developmental disabilities, that their needs don’t matter. Instead, lawmakers have chosen to use them as pawns and leave them questioning whether they’ll still receive the care they need in a few weeks.
“Instead of working to ensure that DDD can fulfill its obligations to the Arizonans it serves, extremists in the legislature have proposed cutting the program’s budget by 25%. Medical appointments, therapeutic treatments, and in-home care cannot simply be cut without consequences, and individuals who depend on these services shouldn’t be forced into uncertainty while legislators play games in pursuit of a neglectful agenda. Withholding funding for DDD programs is an outright moral failure.
“Meanwhile, these same legislators remain silent on the runaway costs and lack of accountability within the universal ESA entitlement program, which has had cost overruns totaling over $385 million the last two years. I call on our lawmakers to put aside their partisan games and act swiftly to right this wrong and deliver the support that these families deserve. Enough is enough.”
The majority is weaponizing a routine part of the budgeting process to cause “pain” for Arizonans with disabilities and their caregivers, attempting to slash DDD funding due to a supplemental request. Supplemental requests are a routine part of the budgeting process. Under Governor Ducey, the below supplementals were included in budgets:
FY16: $26,000,000
FY17: $117,319,400
FY18: $35,565,700
FY19: $16,427,100
FY20: $48,950,900
FY21: $67,381,900
FY22: $463,090,100
FY23: $691,198,000
Additionally, a $274.8 million supplemental for ESA entitlements was approved in the FY24 budget. Reps. Gress and Livingston voted in favor of the ESA entitlement supplemental. |
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