VTDIGGER – Advocates make their cases before Senate Appropriations Committee

By Alicia Freese. Reposted from VTDigger, April 1, 2013. “Now that certain warning cries and requests for the 2014 budget have gone unheeded in the House, advocates are turning their attention to the Senate. On Monday afternoon, the Senate Appropriations Committee listened to advocates detail their needs in advance of taking up the budget bill passed by the House last week. The testimony lasted three hours — each advocate was allotted five minutes to make their case, and every slot was filled, leaving some on a waiting list…Not everyone was there to solicit funding. Many advocates spent their allotted time to warn against the proposed caps to Reach Up, the state’s family welfare program. Advocates described the Reach Up cap — proposed by the Shumlin administration and included in revised form in the House’s budget — as a rash policy plan that will end up costing the state more money. Representatives from housing organizations asked the senators to consider the ‘ripple effect’ that a cap on Reach Up would have on their programs…” Link to Full VTDigger.org Article  View PDF of Full VTDigger Article

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