Food and herbal nutritional products » Health » Workers to legislators: 'Don't shred safety net'
Workers to legislators: 'Don't shred safety net'
View PDF | Print View
by: Guest
Total views: 991 Word Count: 366
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Mental health workers say the proposed budget cuts by the state Legislature will be costly - even deadly. They say the solution is a sales tax increase.
And with only two weeks left in this year's legislative session, lawmakers must do something as they wrestle with a $9 billion deficit and decide where to make $4 billion in cuts.
Folks from the mental health care community say programs that support the mentally ill and homeless are the wrong place to make those cuts.
"Don't shred our safety net," members of the Service Employees International Union chanted at a rally Friday on the Capitol steps in Olympia.
Mental health workers say the safety net is the symbol of protecting the most vulnerable in our society - in this case the poor and the mentally ill.
Nearly $350 million in proposed cuts will be made to basic health care, mental health treatment, help for the unemployable and the homeless.
"We've never faced anything of this magnitude. We've never had so many of our programs in economic jeopardy," says Bill Hobson, executive director of the Downtown Emergency Services Center.
John Hastings, a mental health client of the Emergency Service Center, said he would be out on the street with no income if the program is cut.
He agreed to talk with KOMO News because he wants to show the face of the kinds of people who'll have their safety net pulled from them.
"I guess I'd have to fend for myself with no money," he says.
Mental health advocates say without the state's programs, there will be an increase in mortality of homeless people in Seattle and the greater part of King County.
And without mental health treatment, there are concerns that clients could turn to violence, such as what happened to a young woman killed on Capitol Hill in Seattle.
They say the answer is a sales tax increase to offset the cuts.
What are it's chances of passing the legislature?
"Of that particular proposal I'd say better than 50-50 right now to be on the ballot and the voters will have their vote," says Rep. Frank Chopp, speaker of the House.
Additional information:
Sheer Faith Ministries
Open Directory - Health : Mental Health : Policy and Advocacy
Mental Health America: Mental Health America Honors Outstanding
Advocate for mental health , westminster, london, uk
Mental health advocate Patty Duke kicks off lecture series
Advocates lament mental health cuts - Boston.com
Law Foundation of Silicon Valley
Mental health ireland - Advocacy
The New Mental Health Act: A guide to independent advocacy
Mental Health and Aging
Related "Health":
- Lower Abs Workout
To notice any changes in your midsection, you shou ... - England and Tottenham to monitor Ledley King's knee
Website of the Telegraph Media Group with breakin ... - Sperm Volume Pills for a Blasting Sex Life
Sex is the ultimate measure of manhood. Whether th ... - NEW - Mississippi slow to share information with public
A search for nursing home inspection reports also ... - Herbal Products
Penis Enlargement Pills for Bigger Penis Size ...
Rating: Not yet rated (votes: 0)
