Dear Families, Friends, and Supporters:

The Legislature has passed a budget that won’t cut our services, but the fight isn’t over. They haven’t yet reached a budget agreement with the Governor, which makes everything subject to change. Until we know the final agreement – and that it protects I/DD services – we must keep our folks engaged to make sure that the state Senate, Assembly, and Administration hear our message loud and clear.

If you haven’t yet shared our Action Center at  SaveDisabilityServices.org (para Español) to your list and on your social media, please take a couple minutes to do it now. Even if you have shared it on social, there’s nothing wrong with doing it again! Thanks to Gatepath, you have plenty of graphics and sample posts to make it simple.

While we don’t want to let up on the Legislature until the agreement is final, this ceremonial passage of their budget plan offers a great opportunity to shift more focus on the Governor. To strengthen our advocacy, we are partnering with multiple organizations to push a unified call-to-action directed at Governor Newsom.  New Horizons, CDSA, ARCA, Arc of California, and anyone else who joins us will send the same message to our lists at the same time.

We want state leaders to see that we are a system that works together, and together we oppose cuts to our system. Will you join us? All you have to do is send the following message to your email list on Wednesday, June 17, at 2:00 pm.

New Horizons is looking for, at a minimum, a hundred responses from our stakeholders and supporters.  It takes less than 2 minutes to complete and send a message.

Will the Governor protect you from funding cuts?

The past few months have totally upended life, and the state’s Budget is no exception. The economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is deep. Over half a billion dollars in cuts to the system have been considered, affecting every way people with developmental disabilities are supported in communities of their choosing.

The good news is, the version of the Legislature’s Budget Governor Newsom is reviewing doesn’t hurt people with developmental disabilities or their families. It even helps to improve their lives in key ways. But the developmental disabilities services system may still face cuts. We need to make one last push this month to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Governor Newsom needs to hear from you today. Between now and June 30th, he still has the power to make last-minute cuts to next year’s Budget. The only way to make sure that doesn’t happen is by telling him to you strongly support a Budget that protects the developmental disabilities service system and its funding.

What are some of the things at risk? Aside from preventing the half-billion dollars in cuts, there are a few other big things we’re fighting for. The Budget on Governor Newsom’s desk keeps extra funds for Early Start Therapeutic Services, Independent Living Services, and Infant Development Programs – money other services got last year. The Budget he has power over won’t close access to services for any additional days. It’s a plan that rejects new family fees (disability taxes). And starting next year, if your voice is heard, there will be a way to raise wages for direct support professionals as local minimum wages increase. There are also protections for other services, including Intermediate Care Facilities, In-Home Supportive Services, and some Medi-Cal health care benefits.

Every one of those things needs to be defended. But you don’t need to make a long speech or write a detailed email. It’s just a simple call, saying you strongly support a Budget that protects the developmental disabilities service system and its funding.

Will you take the time to let Governor Newsom know that supporting the developmental disabilities service system matters to you?  Remember, we need at a minimum 100 responses.

Thank you for your support!

New Horizons