PROTECT DDA FUNDING!!

 

YOUR LETTERS ARE NEEDED IMMEDIATELY

TO GOVERNOR-ELECT LARRY HOGAN, JR.

 

 

Background

FY 2015 Budget - The General Assembly passed a budget that included a desperately needed 4% rate increase for DD providers effective January 1, 2015.  Unfortunately, the overall FY 15 budget is facing a deficit of about $300 million, and State agencies have been asked to look for budget cuts. Any budget cuts will not be decided upon until after the new Governor takes office.  While we have not been told that the DDA rate increase is a target for a budget cut, any efforts to reduce spending are worrisome.

 

FY 2016 Budget - Last year, the General Assembly passed a law requiring the Governor to include in the budget a 3.5% rate increase for DD providers annually for FY 16 through FY 19 (related to the increase in the minimum wage).  While the legislation that passed had the strongest legal mandate possible, there is one method that a Governor can use to avoid implementing a spending mandate, and it involves using a companion bill (called the Budget Reconciliation and Finance Act or BRFA) to remove the mandate from statute.  Then it would be up to the General Assembly to reinstate the mandate and the funding. 

 

Action to Take

MAIL A LETTER to Governor-Elect Larry Hogan, Jr. immediately.  Any communication you send must be received by the Governor-Elect's office no later than December 12th:

 

The Honorable Larry Hogan, Jr.

Governor-Elect of Maryland

Tawes State Office Building

580 Taylor Avenue

Annapolis, Maryland 21401

 

Please note that we do not have an email address for the Governor-Elect, which is why we are asking you to send a letter.

 

Talking Points

Your story is what will get the Governor-elect's attention, so please be sure to PERSONALIZE YOUR LETTERS! Below are some message points, but please use your own words as much as possible, and explain why funding for developmental disability supports is important to you.  Feel free to include a photo if you like.

• Congratulations on your election as Maryland's next Governor. The developmental disabilities community looks forward to working with you in the coming years!
   
• Community services for people with developmental disabilities have suffered years of inadequate funding, resulting in low-wage direct support staff who are the backbone of supports for people with developmental disabilities.
   
• Marylanders with developmental disabilities and their families are relying on you to ensure adequate funding for the critically important services that enable people to live and work in the community. This is both the right thing to do, and the cost-effective alternative to higher-cost State-run institutions.
   
• During the 2014 Legislative Session, the Maryland General Assembly created a statutory mandate in HB 295/SB 331 (The Maryland Minimum Wage Act of 2014) of a 3.5% rate increase for DDA-licensed community services from FY 2016 through FY 2019. The 3.5% rate increase provides funding for direct support wages, in addition to a modest inflationary increase for other operating costs. It is needed to stabilize developmental disability services, and to help keep pace with the increases in the minimum wage.
   
• The 2014 General Assembly also passed a desperately-needed 4% mid-year rate increase for DD community services.
   
• This funding is critically important to our citizens with developmental disabilities, their families, and the staff that provide supports.
   
• Cutting the FY 2015 DDA budget and/or failing to fund the statutorily mandated 3.5% rate increase for DDA community services in FY 2016 would be devastating.

• We urge you to fully support funding for community supports for Marylanders with developmental disabilities!