Arc Testimony on DHS Budget

After testifing at the Senate Appropriations Committee I will be meeting with Director
Norwood with Katherine and Shirley. Our agenda will include the need for a new adult
waiver and managed care.

Here is my written for the Senate today.

The Arc of Illinois opposes the Proposed Budget State Budget.

The Arc of Illinois represents the 220,000 infants, children and adults with intellectual
and other developmental disabilities and their families in Illinois. Statewide fifty-five
disability organizations and over 10,000 individual members support the good work of
The Arc.

We realize that the Governor, his team and the state face major challenges but we
cannot cut our way out of this state budget crisis. Disability Services, Special Education
and all of Human Services cannot sustain further cuts. What is needed is new revenue.

The Arc for decades has identified wasteful and unnecessary spending in the Division
of Developmental Disabilities budget but it is not addressed in this proposed budget.
The proposed budget supports continuation of seven fully operational state institutions
here in Illinois. These antiquated, obsolete state institutions unnecessarily segregate
1,730 individuals with intellectual and other developmental disabilities, IDD, from the
community at large.

In this budget, we spend $428,754,550 in taxpayer monies on those seven fully
operational state institutions. This averages to a per person rate of $247,835 in each
state institution.

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