By Karen Harvey, Victor
Like many of you, when I sit down to read the paper or watch TV and hear the words of “Government Budget Cuts” my initial response is often a sigh of relief. But last week, I could only feel frustration and anger with a state legislature so out of touch with the priorities of communities they represent and lacking human decency.
This past week, I have listened with great dismay and a large measure of shame as our Ravalli County legislators have led the effort to secure a proposed $93 million budget cut to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS). When approved, over half the funds cut will be taken from crucial services for Montana seniors. As a result, major reductions will occur in funding within Ravalli County for Meals on Wheels, group meals at senior centers, transportation for doctor appointments, hospice, personal assistance and home health care provided to the elderly trying to stay in their own homes or with family members, and financial support to obtain residence in a nursing home for low income elderly who can no longer live independently. Needs across Montana for home and community-based services for low income seniors (residential living, adult day care, respite for family caregivers, personal assistance, specialized medical equipment and supplies, etc.) are so high now, even before any budget cuts are made, that the DPHHS currently has to maintain a waiting list.
The chairman of the subcommittee sanctioning the $93 million budget cut stated that DPHHS was selected to bear such heavy reductions in funding because it receives a 25% allocation of Montana’s state budget. But, what he does not tell you is that currently the Montana state money only contributes 25% of the annual funding for DPHHS and is mostly the matching fund requirement to obtain the other 75% of their annual budget from federal matching funds. The loss of $93 million in funding being proposed will most likely double in size from a subsequent loss in federal matching funds. When the chairman was asked to delay the vote on the budget cut to give the public adequate time to provide feedback, the rush by the majority of the legislature to end the session in 70 days rather than 90 days prevailed and reasoned judgment with adequate public input went out the window.
In our county, 436 of our friends and neighbors over the age of 65 live below the federal poverty level and 2,699 of our adult friends and neighbors (over 18 and under 65) live below the federal poverty level and will eventually become elderly here. They most assuredly will suffer if this inappropriate budget cut is enacted. How can my rancher neighbor who is the sole caretaker for a homebound, elderly mother continue to carry out the winter feeding, calving, and summer haying responsibilities that provide an income if he is deprived of the home healthcare assistance he needs and receives for his mom? Another senior neighbor of mine, who lives below the poverty level, would be forced to choose between good nutrition and the ability to buy enough propane for winter heat when meal program funds are cut. For self-interest alone, I would like to think that these services will still be in existence when I, or a loved family member, might get to the age or circumstances where they are needed.
The other large reduction of funding under the $93 million proposed budget cut will impact services for youth at risk. Reducing services to children in foster care, to children needing mental health assistance, and to disabled children is not an acceptable way to balance the budget. In our county, 1,861 of our children under 18 years of age (21 percent) live below the federal poverty level. These children will suffer when community health services and children & family support services shrink or become non-existent.
We have always prided ourselves in the Valley with coming together, strong in number, to help out those less fortunate. Let’s not stop now. Please contact our state legislators and the Governor’s Office, by phone or email or letter or visit, to let them know you are against this proposed budget cut and the impacts it will have on our vulnerable seniors and young people. The Montana Legislature website has a tab where you can directly email your legislators and supplies phone numbers and addresses of their offices. Post Offices and telephone books list the addresses and phone numbers for the state legislator’s offices and the Office of the Governor. If you have a cell phone with text message capability, you can retrieve the phone numbers of state legislators by sending a text message to (520) 200-2223. In the text message line, simply type your local zip code and the return message will give you the phone numbers.
Thank you for your compassion and willingness to lend your voice to a righteous cause.