Colorado governor restores $7 million to living expenses program for people with disabilities

From The Pueblo Chieftain:

"Hooray!" was how Kristen Castor reacted Oct. 16 when told that Gov. Bill Ritter (pictured) had reversed his decision to cancel a $7 million state program that provides monthly living expenses for disabled people waiting to be enrolled in the federal Supplemental Security Income program.

Castor, who heads the Pueblo chapter of the Colorado Cross Disability Coalition, was part of the statewide lobbying effort on behalf of the Aid to the Needy Disabled program, which provides $200 a month to about 6,500 people in Colorado. Castor said 777 people receive the benefit in Pueblo County.

In a statement Oct. 16, Ritter said, "I've been concerned from the beginning about the impact of suspending the AND program and on those who rely on it for a lifeline. I have listened to the concerns expressed by AND recipients and those who work with them all across Colorado and today, I directed my budget office to rebalance the budget without suspending this program."

Ritter canceled the AND program in August as part of a package of cuts aimed

at reducing a $320 million budget shortfall. The program is intended to provide some monthly income for totally disabled people who are applying to the Social Security Administration to be included in the federal SSI disability program. The wait on the process, however, can take several years.

Ritter's decision in August prompted a strong reaction from the disabled community across the state, which argued the $200 check was in many cases the only income that disabled people were receiving.

"We don't know the reasons the governor changed his mind, but we are grateful and believe the many stories of how the cuts would affect the disabled community were a factor," said B.J. Lacino, director of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.