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There have been a number of developments relative to the state budget as it impacts the department since our last message on March 4, 2009.  We met with the Appropriations Health and Hospitals subcommittee on March 5th regarding the Governor's recommended budget for FY10 and FY11. All agency testimony is available on the DDS website on the Legislative Affairs page. Appropriations subcommittees are in the process of making their budget recommendations to the full committee for consideration as an alternative to the Governor’s proposed budget.  The Appropriations Committee’s deadline is April 16th, so we expect to see their version of a proposed budget before that date. On March 5th, we met with the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee to go over the department’s request for bond funds to repair and improve state-owned space that we utilize. The Governor has recommended five million dollars in each year of the biennium as well as an additional one million dollars each year specifically for the revolving loan fund, which is used to improve community residential programs for our private providers. There were a number of questions about the Grant-In-Aid program administered by DDS to assist private providers with improvements to day services facilities. This is a very helpful program and a little over two million dollars is currently available and appropriated. Upon approval of bond authorizations for FYs10 and 11, the money must still be allocated through action by the state Bond Commission before work can begin. With the current economic climate, it will be increasingly challenging to get on the Bond Commission’s agenda.

As you know, the FY09 budget deficit is still a significant issue.  To respond to the shortfall the state is experiencing in the current fiscal year (FY09), there have been a number of directives from Governor M. Jodi Rell and Secretary Robert Genuario (Office of Policy and Management) regarding initiatives to further reduce state spending. As of March 6, 2009 all vacancies in the department were cancelled including those that were previously granted an automatic refill. Going forward, we will have to request the reestablishment of any position we wish to fill and seek approval before we can fill any position.  We have placed this directive on the intranet and DDS website for your reference.

The national and state financial picture still presents many challenges. The impact of federal stimulus dollars and its impact on the state budget are being carefully evaluated by the Governor's office, OPM and the legislature.  We will continue to keep everyone up to date with budget-related information as we receive it.

Additionally, the department testified against House Bill 6596 before the Planning and Development Committee.  This bill, as currently drafted, would require some level of prior notification to municipalities when siting Community Living Arrangements or group homes. Clearly, it would be contrary to established legal rights of individuals with intellectual or other disabilities to require notice to communities when a group home is first moving into an area and would violate our consumers rights to live freely in the community and reinforce long fought stereotypes about excluding people with disabilities from our communities.  As a result of the testimony of several agencies, consumers and private providers, the committee has agreed to rework the bill. We will be following this legislation carefully.         

Thank you for your continued patience as we deal with the uncertainty of what the final state budget will look like.  Our next Budget WEB MESSAGE will be on March 19, 2009.