Children and adults with developmental disabilities deserve much better treatment than they are getting in Colorado, and voters should make sure they get it.
It is a disgrace that Colorado’s budget for the kinds of services on which the developmentally disabled and their families depend excludes nearly half of the disabled population.
One of this year’s many ballot initiatives, Amendment 51, proposes to close that budget’s gap by raising the state’s sales tax from 2.9 percent to 3.1 percent. The tax hike would roll in over a two-year period and is expected to raise $186 million a year at full force. That would double the state’s portion of funding and allow the nearly 10,000 children and adults now on years-long waiting lists services they deserve to have.
“The individuals here are not just under-served — they’re not being served at all,” says Marijo Rymer, executive director of The Arc of Colorado, which advocates for the community.
We applaud the intent. However, we do not endorse the measure for two reasons: first, we can’t support a statewide tax increase during these troubling economic times; and second, these costs should be covered by the existing state budget.
One way to possibly do that is to approve Amendment 59, which we’ll discuss in detail Sunday. At the very least it would allow our elected representatives to set budget priorities and spend money on programs the state values.
If voters disagree with us on this one and decide to support Amendment 51, we won’t lose any sleep over it. The sad problem needs to be corrected. We just really can’t imagine worse economic timing for a statewide tax increase.
And we think too much is at stake for our lawmakers not to take this on and to do so with great haste.
The developmentally disabled community includes children and adults with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and mental retardation.
The services are vital to the affected and their families, by providing residential care, medical equipment and treatment, help with personal hygiene and grooming, home modifications, day care, job training when appropriate, transportation, counseling, physical therapy and much more.
At issue are the services offered to adults 18 and older and preschool children. Such assistance no doubt saves marriages, allows both parents to enjoy careers, eases concerns for parents or guardians worried about who will care for their child when they die and give many in the disabled community the ability to live fuller lives.
While we don’t support the method of expanding the state’s sales tax with an earmark, we wish to make a clarion call to our lawmakers to take on the responsibility.
