The actor Sir Alec Guinness played the lead role of George Smiley in the 1979 miniseries Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, which was remade as a popular film in 2011. In the original miniseries, a former spy says in frustration to Smiley, “The facts were known, man” when discussing a botched operation in Hungary.
For many of you, the recent budget blueprints and the call by Governor Baker for a tax cut seem to go against the facts of the situation. The House blueprint is the best as of today, as it backs up with funding the idea that more people should be served. It assumes that we should work to get 7,000 people back to day and employment services.
Until life is back to normal, should we be cutting taxes? We should be paying our workforce competitively and funding day and employment services at less than the FY2020 level.
What are “some” of the known facts?
- Special education services in many school districts have not returned to normal (e.g., parent/grandparent asked to accompany child to school due to lack of nursing).
- 26 months and counting for caregivers of adults who need to provide 24/7 support, especially those with complex medical and behavioral conditions (nursing, lack of direct support staff, no one on one capability, not enough drivers, supply chain backup on vans that are accessible, etc.).
- Adults lacking accessible housing.
- Budget sustainability cited as reason for not increasing Chapter 257 funding.
Let’s focus on getting back to normal and then some – can we? And please, let’s cut the tax cut talk.
The facts are known, man!
