For the fifth time in four years, Gov. Dannel Malloy has ordered rescissions to vital health and human services on top of flat funding for seven years. The cuts ordered last week are the most draconian and will have a brutal impact on the lives of the most vulnerable people in our state.
Cutting already scarce and inadequate funding for people with disabilities, mental health issues, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services is unconscionable. Cuts to health services for the poor and arts and culture programs tear at the very fabric of our society. Balancing the state budget on the backs of the most vulnerable and the nonprofit organizations that serve them is profoundly disturbing.
How will the state continue to retain and recruit business when the quality of life is being sabotaged?
Residents of the state who have family members with autism, intellectual disabilities, mental illness and health needs are the targets of heartless discriminatory public policy. The concepts of the “common good” and a “duty to care” that are so central to a civil society are obviously not a priority given our state’s fiscal policy.
Patrick J. Johnson Jr. is the Interim Executive Director, Connecticut Association of Nonprofits.