From Deseret News archives:
Resist budget cuts, Utah delegates told
Reforms hinder care for those who need it most, advocates say
"We recognize there are no easy choices, but there are right choices," said Dee Rowland, government liaison for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.
"But our nation's leaders must ensure there are adequate resources," to help the most needy, she stressed.
Rowland was joined by several other speakers at a Wednesday press conference staged in front of the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building.
Hosted by the Family Investment Coalition, the event was scheduled the same day members of the U.S. Senate were to debate an amendment to their budget resolution that would strike Medicaid cuts and instead propose to establish a bipartisan Medicaid Reform Commission.
As it stands, President Bush has called for cuts of at least $45 billion to Medicaid over the next 10 years, while House and Senate budget committees are supporting a plan that will lead to reductions of $14 billion or more in the next five years, according to the health policy research and community action group Utah Issues.
The coalition staged weekly strategy meetings throughout the just-concluded general session of the Legislature, priming Utah lawmakers on their concerns and hoping to foist collective political will into the fight to preserve Medicaid insurance benefits for the poor and disabled.
Advocates got lawmakers to unanimously sign off on a resolution urging Congress to reject any cuts and to instead explore reforms that will result in savings.
Such cuts, advocates and state officials predict, will shift costs to the state and will burden health care providers with unfunded mandates to care for the poor.
Aside from Medicaid, other domestic programs are on the chopping block, including a proposed 16 percent reduction in veterans' benefits and housing for people with disabilities, which could see its dollars cut in half.
"These cuts will have a great deal of effect on the people of Utah," said Jeff Fox, federal campaign coordinator for Utah Issues.
The coalition was joined Wednesday in their call for action by the United Way of America, which, in its analysis of proposed budget changes, cited several areas of concern.
Among them are the president's proposal to freeze discretionary and mandatory spending for the Child Care and Development Block Grant for fiscal year 2006 and continuing that freeze for five years.
"We see the budget as a moral statement as to where our values are as a society," said Rowland, adding that a fundamental budget policy issue is whether it undermines or enhances the lives and dignity of those in need. "Poor children and families are missing from this debate."
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