Public sounds off on budget

About 75 people showered two state legislators with their concerns over Gov. Bob McDonnell’s ideas for the state budget Thursday during a public hearing in Lynchburg.

Caregivers, mental health professionals, farmers and sheriffs spent four hours describing how people could be affected by the changes McDonnell is proposing for the 2011-12 budget year starting July 1.

Educators spoke up too, criticizing the governor’s plan to make workers put 5 percent of their pay into the Virginia Retirement System. Until this year, government employers have made that VRS contribution on behalf of the workers.

Dels. Charles Poindexter, R-Franklin County, and Beverly Sherwood, R-Winchester, were the only members of the General Assembly who attended the hearing at Central Virginia Community College. Nearly 200 people filled the hearing room. Some wore sheriff’s uniforms, and others were in T-shirts bearing the logo of personal-care assistants.

Although McDonnell proposes to fund an additional 275 mental health waivers so more people with disabilities can live in community- based housing, individuals who spoke Thursday had looked deeper into the budget the governor issued on Dec. 17.

“I can applaud that the governor acknowledges there is a need, and that 275 waiver slots are to be added, but it seems that we are seeing a carnival shell game of sorts,” said Warren McKeen, executive director of the ARC of Waynesboro.

“Respite hours are reduced,” McKeen said of a state program that provides short-term care so families can take a break from care-giving duties. “Therapeutic foster care will be redefined, and non-mandated services will be eliminated,” McKeen said.

Karen Wilder of the ARC of Central Virginia in Lynchburg said, “We need to protect people with developmental disabilities from harmful budget cuts that are scheduled to take effect in July. The 5 percent cut in Medicaid waiver reimbursements will have devastating results,” including fewer workers to care for people with needs.

Dan Jenkins of Pleasant View Inc., a Harrisonburg group-home provider, said the Medicaid cuts would force layoffs among a 190employee staff.

Donna Wallace spoke to the legislators about benefits she had received at Hudson House, a Lynchburg program that provides mental-health services.

“Community services saves money and saves lives. Where I come from, they call that a bargain,” Wallace said as the crowd chuckled.

Several other speakers, including Laura Pelleteri, of Goodview, also said state aid for communitybased care is cheaper than caring for people in institutions.

Sheriff Mike Taylor of Pittsylvania County spoke for at least four other sheriff’s departments across Southside Virginia in opposing McDonnell’s 5 percent employee contribution to the retirement system.

The proposal “would take away one of our most attractive tools for recruiting” new officers, Taylor said.

More than 20 uniformed sheriffs and deputies sat together for three hours, and all of them stood when it was Taylor’s turn to speak. Other sheriffs in the group included: Lane Perry of Henry County, Steve Draper of Martinsville, Mike Mondul of Danville, and Stanley Noblin of Halifax County.

Cheryl Sprouse, a Bedford County teacher who spoke on behalf of the Virginia Education Association, said, “We disagree sharply with the budget’s approach to funding for K-12 schools and other state services.”

There’s no real pay raise for teachers, Sprouse said, because McDonnell’s proposal for a 3 percent pay raise to offset the 5 percent pension requirement would mean “Virginia teachers will be rewarded with a pay cut.”

Marie Waller, a Lynchburg school board member speaking on behalf of a teachers’ sorority group, said McDonnell’s budget reflects a $510 million increase in expected revenues, “but none of it goes to public education.”

Lynchburg Mayor Joan Foster told the two delegates that “we are glad to hear reports that the state’s revenue picture is looking up,” but “unfortunately our city revenues are not as favorable” because real estate assessments are expected to fall 2 percent.

“Your budget actions have had a significant effect on our city, and our citizens and their local tax rates,” Foster said. “We are at a point where we can no longer manage our way out. We can’t afford additional state cuts or shifts in funding to the local level,” Foster said.

Cuts that McDonnell is proposing in the Comprehensive Services Act could force the city to put needy children into the custody of Social Services, Foster said, and “no one wants to do this.”

Four speakers criticized a plan to reorganize and shrink the Virginia Cooperative Extension program starting in October.

Poindexter offered them some relief, however. “The reorganization is on hold while it is being reviewed again,” Poindexter said.

Later, Poindexter explained that controversy had emerged over how much of the $8 million the legislature authorized for the reorganization was being used in Extension field offices around the state versus how much was being used within Virginia Tech, where the Extension Service is based.

Jeff Powers, a leader in Bedford County’s agricultural community, said, “There has been a lot of disparity on where that money is going.”