Gov. Katie Hobbs, surrounded by members of the developmentally disabled community and their advocates, performs a ceremonial signing of House Bill 2945, which funds the Division of Developmental Disabilities through the end of the fiscal year. Photo by Caitlin Sievers | Arizona Mirror
The Arizona Legislature and governor finally agreed on a plan last week to prevent a funding crisis at the Division of Developmental Disabilities. This week the developmentally disabled community, along with lawmakers and Gov. Katie Hobbs gathered to celebrate the women (and girl) who fought relentlessly to ensure that the people who rely on DDD for vital services weren’t left without.
The agreement to supply DDD with $122 million in supplemental funding to get it through the end of the fiscal year passed through both chambers of the legislature and was signed into law last week. That was after months of fighting between the Republicans who control the legislature and Hobbs, a Democrat, over proposed cuts and increased oversight of the Parents as Paid Caregivers program that was responsible for a large chunk of the budget shortfall.
Brandi Coon, co-founder of the Raising Voices Coalition whose son relies on DDD services, told a crowd gathered for a ceremonial bill signing on Wednesday that she’d spent her whole life being told “no.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
It started when she was 7 years old, crying in the corner of her classroom because she didn’t know how to read or write and her teachers had given up on her. That first “no” early in her life and her mother’s determination to ensure her daughter had the skills to thrive “lit a fire” in her, Coon said. She went on to fight for the continuation of the Parents as Paid Caregivers program and to ensure that the legislature passed the last minute bill to fund DDD last week.
“This isn’t just a win — it’s a revolution built on true love and determination,” she said. “This win belongs to every self-advocate, caregiver and taxpayer who spoke up, every sibling who stepped in, every voice who kept showing up after hearing ‘no’ a hundred times.”
Grace Haley, 13, whose brother Jacob Haley relies on DDD services, thanked Republican Rep. Julie Willoughby and Democratic Rep. Nancy Gutierrez for their work to bring their parties together for a compromise that would prevent people like her brother from losing crucial services.
Haley spent the last few months advocating for her brother at protests, legislative hearings and in relentless emails to Willoughby.
“You both made me feel like my voice matters, and I will carry that with me for the rest of my life,” Haley told Willoughby and Gutierrez.
Jason Snead, who receives direct support services from DDD, thanked the members of the developmental disability community who showed up again and again to urge lawmakers to fund the division before money ran out on May 1.
“They allow me to be a better father, a better husband and also maintain a full time job so I can provide for my family,” he said of the services he receives from DDD.
Snead added that the community should prepare for the many more battles that are likely to come.
Now that the immediate DDD funding crisis is resolved, Hobbs and Republican leaders in the legislature must craft a budget for the coming year, which could include another fight to fully fund services in the 2026 fiscal year.
Medicaid, which funds DDD services, faces the possibility of deep cuts at the hands of congressional Republicans, as they consider how to pay for President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.
Those cuts would likely mean loss of insurance coverage for millions of people across the country, to offset a tax plan that would primarily benefit the wealthy.
Hobbs said on Wednesday that the state doesn’t have the resources to make up for that funding if it’s cut.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
This post was originally authored and published by Caitlin Sievers from AZ Mirror via RSS Feed. Join today to get your news feed on Nationwide Report®.
