Category Archives: Budget & Policy
Governor’s Budget Includes Increases for Key DDS Line Items
Secretary of Health and Human Services Mary Lou Sudders held her state wide stakeholder call to review the Governor’s budget, House 1. The Arc appreciates the specific attention given to the Department of Developmental Disabilities, especially in terms of the DESE/DDS program which was funded with an additional $4 million. This additional funding will translate to many families that need meaningful supports in order to avoid out of home placements.
Leo’s Letter: Policy and Advocacy: A Year in Review
As we exit the “dog days of summer,” it may be a good time to share the past fiscal year’s advocacy work prepared by our Government Affairs team. It’s a short digest and we invite you to dig deeper by looking at our website, including the Advocacy Page which includes the State Budget, Bill Priorities and Policy Issues.
Nicky’s Law Featured On Boston 25 News
Leo’s Letter: Pretty Good News
Today is one of those good days. Yesterday afternoon, we celebrated the positive news from the State House’s Conference Committee led by Chairs Jeffrey Sanchez and Karen Spilka. The conferees gave us the highest funding possible from the two versions of the budget released earlier this session. At 7:57 pm last night, Mike Moore’s office gave us word that the Senate had passed Nicky’s Law – a registry bill which will prevent staff who have abused adults in the Dept. of Developmental Services (DDS) program or service to work in another DDS setting.
The Arc of Massachusetts Celebrates The Conference Committee Budget
The Arc of Massachusetts celebrates the release of the Massachusetts Conference Committee Budget. We are grateful to the members of the Conference Committee who not only recognized the importance of the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) Family Support and Day and Employment Services, but also funded the higher numbers in the line items for Transportation and the Autism Children’s Waiver. In each DDS line item included in conference, the committee funded the higher amount.
FY 19 State Budget: The Arc Supported Amendments
On Friday, April 13, 2018, House of Representatives members submitted 1400 amendments to the recently released House Ways and Means Committee FY 19 budget. We have actively encouraged House members to sign on as cosponsors to seven of those amendments. These amendments ask that funding be increased for budget line items affecting supporting families services and supporting adult services. We encourage all to contact their representatives to sign onto to these amendments if their member has not already done so for each of the amendments.