Low-income Utahns fare OK in budget

With record amounts of money on the table, advocates for Utah's low-income community had high hopes for the 2007 legislative session.

For the most part, they weren't disappointed.

"This has overall been a really good year," said Robyn Lipkowitz, a policy analyst for Voices for Utah Children. "We feel really positive about the funding decisions that were made."

In all, lawmakers allocated more than $60 million to health and human service needs throughout the state. On Capitol Hill, many called it the best year ever for programs and services for many of the state's most vulnerable residents.

"Overall, we were absolutely thrilled with the budget," said community advocate Pamela Atkinson. "I think many of the lawmakers know the needs out there."

Initial disappointment that budget officials allocated just $2 million to the state Children's Health Insurance Program — rather than the $4.2 million recommended by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. — was tempered by the approval of a one-time appropriation of $2 million from the state's tobacco settlement monies.

The additional money will help draw down an additional $8 million in federal funds, pumping some $10 million more into the program than originally expected. CHIP has provided health-care coverage to more than 112,000 low-income children since its creation a decade ago.

One large area of disappointment, however, was the unexplained reduction in funds to address the state's 1,800-person waiting list for people with disabilities.

Lawmakers last year gave $2.5 million to the Division of Services for People with Disabilities, which allowed the agency to remove 400 people with the most severe needs from the waiting list. With just $1 million allocated this year, officials estimate they will be only be able to serve about 235 people.

With 350 new people coming onto the list since last legislative session, the funding represents a step backward, said Alice Perreault Steubing with the Disability Community Alliance.

"You still have only $1 million and that's not going to cover the new families that come on, that doesn't cover the growth," she said.

The news may not be all bad, however, because lawmakers this year also approved a two-year pilot program that would provide family preservation services to Utahns with disabilities and their families. While not removing them from the list entirely, the $400,000 program is estimated to help 200 families.