This week’s blog is written by guest writer, John-Paul Yates, Director, Public Affairs, Goff Public, with a note by Living Well COO Rod Carlson.
This week both the House and Senate passed their omnibus human services budget bills off the House and Senate floor, which will trigger the creation of a conference committee. That conference committee will decide the final shape of Minnesota’s human services budget for the next two years, and the fate of proposals deeply important to Living Well.
What does that mean? The next week is not only your last chance to tell legislators what is at stake for Living Well in these budget bills, but it’s the best time to do it. While the members of the conference committees will make the final decisions, both the House and Senate will have to give their final approval to the bills, so each legislator will have to cast a vote on the final agreement.
A few tips if you plan to call, write or email a legislator:
—Legislators will be inundated with feedback in the final days of session. Keep your messages short and to the point.
—As a constituent, your voice is important to your legislators. Your personal stories about how issues related to disability services impact you and your loved ones can be powerful in educating legislators and building relationships with them.
—When writing to or talking with legislators, it’s important to lead with your “why” before your “what.” Letting a legislator know why an issue is important to you, and how action or non-action on an issue would impact your life, can be really compelling.
—Trying to do all this in a succinct manner will be challenging but remember you want your message to get through to the legislator. Make it easy for them to absorb it.
Rod Carlson, COO, has been with Living Well almost 40 years. He understands the urgency, and adds, “All of the proposals are concerning, but there are three that have the most potential to negatively affect the work at Living Well in the long term. To start, removing the absence and utilization factors. This means decreasing the days we can bill from 365 to 351. The reason this is troubling is we can’t just turn off the lights and not care for people for two weeks. Also problematic are the modifications to what rate exceptions can be requested. This would include the increased needs that come with aging and would make it harder to support people over time. In addition, not only is it going to be harder to receive funds necessary to care for people, but the proposals also include language that would make the request process even more challenging. Add to that, both the governor and the house share the position of capping future inflationary adjustments, thus creating a situation where providers fall further and further behind in the pay gap already associated with the profession of caring.”
Bottom line, it’s all very confusing, and made more complicated when you add that waiver homes are being targeted. To help you with more numbers and data, check out this week’s blog by ARRM’s Sara Gafstom with this link.
Use this link then scroll to find your legislators and demand action. Email Rod.Carlson@livingwell.org, Beth.Tollefson@livingwell.org or Tom.Gillespie@livingwell.org with questions.
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