Texas activists lobby governor to lessen waiting lists for programs that help disabled people

From the News-Journal in Longview, Texas:

A group of activists for Texans with disabilities gathered outside the House chamber Jan. 27 before Gov. Rick Perry’s State of the State address to ask lawmakers to reduce waiting lists for state programs that help people with disabilities live at home or in group homes rather than in institutions. More than 80,000 Texans are on the waiting lists.

Bob Kafka, an organizer with Adapt of Texas, said it’s a good start that the Senate’s draft of the state budget includes $200 million for the Home and Community-based Services program, which serves Texans with mental retardation. That’s part of a plan to reduce the number of Texans at state schools, which are residential institutions for people with mental retardation.

But Kafka said that it’s also important to also fund other programs — those that serve Texans with other kinds of disabilities.

“We can’t forget that there are all these Texans with physical disabilities,” Kafka said. The budget writers are “pitting groups against each other.”

That, he added, would not be a first for the Legislature.