CTNJ/Opinion: Increase revenue to save Medicaid and other basic services for people with disabilities

Lisa Abbey-James lives in Glastonbury with her 16-year-old son.

I have severe disabilities, including brain injury and spinal cord injury, due to accidents in 1985 and 1992. I write to object to the willingness of some in the legislature to consider raising revenue to balance the state budget but ONLY to save municipalities from cuts, and NOT to prevent further shredding of the safety net for people like me.

I am on the board of the Connecticut State Independent Living Council, which is a statewide planning council that works in partnership with the five Centers for Independent Living (ILCs).

I took part in the spinal cord peer support group at Independence Unlimited, one of these centers, when I first became injured. Under the proposed state budgets, the ILCs are threatened with the elimination of all state funding, which would mean a dramatic reduction in ILCs’ ability to help people like me obtain the independent living services they need to avoid institutionalization. Without access to services, individuals with disabilities, who rely on the ILCs to find and keep housing and to navigate daily living, could be forced into expensive nursing facilities, costing the state millions.

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