The disabled need sound policy, not charity
In his budget address, Gov. Bruce Rauner said structural reforms will enable Illinois to be “as compassionate as we want to be,” and later he said, “compassion is in the DNA of Illinois.” As a person with a disability who works with a disability organization, I think compassion is the wrong approach.
Disabled residents of Illinois need sound policy, not charity. The disability community is protected by civil rights and should expect Illinois policy to support those rights through the integration and independence of people with disabilities. Yet, up until now Rauner’s policies have attacked the Illinois Home Services Program — a resource that supports thousands of people with disabilities living in their own homes instead of in nursing homes — and have kept open large state- operated developmental centers that are expensive and segregate people with disabilities.
With a $ 150 million cut to Medicaid in the proposed budget, and with no mention of institution closure in the budget address, it seems the governor has neither structural reform nor compassion in mind for the disability community.
But Rauner has a chance to improve his record in the final year of his first term. To do so, he must listen to, respond to, and partner with people with disabilities.
Gary M. Arnold, program director, Progress Center
for Independent Living