Tuesday...Blogging from the Capitol

Today Vice Chair of the Health subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee held hearings today in Capitol room 341 this morning. Sonja Thomas just gave testimony on Unlock, thanking them for their past leadership and committment to our issue and asking them to continue this support with a total of 2,000 new MRWP services for people throughout the state. These services will mean around 1,600 people will recieve much needed help to live and work in the community. Vice Chair Mark Butler commended her for her committment to caring for her loved one and for her testimony. There were no other questions from the committee for Sonja.

Other individuals who testified on disability issues included:

Josh Norris with the Georgia Advocacy Office testified on the recent deaths in state hospitals and reported that they are investigate 27 deaths that they believe are due to a lack of care. He made the point through this story that people need to be given the right to live in the community rather than in state institutions. He also called for an examination of the way oversight is carried out by the state and others.

Tripp Cook with Ga Enterprises testified that people with disabilities want to work and should be supported to do so, with $500,000 additional dollars in the Department of Labor's budget.

Dr. Sarita Reddy, a parent and board member for Georgia Options, testified that this Athens based provider for residential services for people with developmental disabilities that this provider needs $250,000 funds in order to grow capacity.