Editorial: It's past time to fully fund state disability services

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Editorial: It's past time to fully fund state disability services

Governor Josh Shapiro waves as he enters the House floor to deliver his first budget address to a joint session of the state legislature on March 7, 2023

By the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It’s hard to overstate the crisis in Pennsylvania’s system of support for people with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A), and the frustration of advocates and service providers as their pleas consistently fall on deaf ears in Harrisburg.

But with a new administration — and full state coffers — has come a new set of priorities and a new emphasis on solving longstanding problems. Now is the time to place the commonwealth’s disability services system on a solid and sustainable footing: Providers’ request for $430 million to respond to inflation and to stabilize the system should be a top agenda item in meetings among legislative caucus leaders and Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office.

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