Town Hall Meeting

I went to a morning town hall meeting with state representative Jerry Hill this morning. The state is proposing pretty draconian cuts to California Children's services. Families that make over $40,000 a year would no longer be eligible for services. This would mean no physical therapy or occupational therapy for S.

Needless to say this would be a huge hardship for our family. We would probably have to either go without or seek these services through our private insurance or out of our own pocket. It would probably cost us several hours a week to take her to these services, and most places that do provide these services do not usually deal with kids as involved as S. It's hard to imagine that the services would be anywhere close to equivalent.

So we were there to press the message that these budget cuts were a bad idea. First, it's morally wrong to cut services for the most vulnerable among us. It's a failure of the state. Second, it's shortsighted. Although there is savings in the short run. In the long term, it's going to cost everyone a lot more. S is 3 and showing signs that she may walk. Her therapists are working hard on this. If she walks, it will cost us and the state a lot less than if she never learns to walk. I don't know what the expense difference would be in the long term, but it must be significant.

Honestly, Mr. Hill did not seem aware of this detail in the budget. He seemed aware of the larger picture challenges with the education budget, but this detail had escaped him. I don't know if it makes a difference in the long run, but I think we were able to express that this issue was important to us. At the least, I think he will look into it.

There were a lot of other issues discussed during the town hall meeting. For a political junkie like me it was fun, though S seemed to think the whole think lasted too long.