Rick Scott Slashes Support for the Disabled

Continuing his assault on Florida’s most vulnerable, Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order on Thursday that immediately slashes money for the developmentally disabled. The cuts will reduce payments to group homes and social workers by 15 percent. The Orlando Sentinelreports: 

Florida Gov. Rick Scott ordered deep cuts Thursday to programs that serve tens of thousands of residents with Down syndrome,cerebral palsy, autism and other developmental disabilities…[which] providers say could put them out of business and threaten their clients’ safety.


“lt’s not like, ‘Gee, does this mean I have to skip a vacation this year?’” said Amy Van Bergen, executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Central Florida. “Potentially, these cuts have life and death implications for these people.”

 An estimated 30,000 Floridians with severe developmental disabilities receive services that help them live outside of nursinghomes—typically with family or in small group homes. Aides help them eat, bathe, take medication and otherwise care for themselves.


But Scott’s executive order is only the first of many cuts that could hurt the disabled. With the governor’s full support, the Florida statehouse is currently considering a bill that wouldprivatize Medicaid—a proposal that would also turn health care for disabled beneficiaries in the program over to private managed care companies.

 http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/04/rick-scott-slashes-funds-disabled

Watch - Big Cuts For Us, Big Salaries For Them – AwakeTheState.com

Average Floridians are fed up with politicians who balance the budget on the backs of hard-working Floridians. Florida cannot afford more cuts to education, health care, economic infrastructure, and environmental protection while at the same time we give huge tax breaks to those who can afford to hire the most politically connected lobbyists. 

Florida Gov. Rick Scott and his fellow GOP leaders in the legislature, President Haridopolos and Speaker Cannon, love to wax poetic about belt tightening, fiscal conservatism, and making due with less. However, when it comes to their own offices, Florida taxpayers are just a blank check. 

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