Pa. advocates for poor, disabled wary of Corbett

Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa.

The administration of Gov. Tom Corbett is piling up a string of changes it ordered to social and human services before seeking outside input, according to advocates for the poor and disabled who have protested that the changes are both damaging and counterproductive.

At least four such orders were pulled back after an outcry. But advocates for those who use the services, such as people trying to re-enter the work force or live independently, say the record stirs deep concerns, especially given the broader authority that state lawmakers just gave the Corbett administration to cut programs without public review first.

“I’m afraid I’m going to wake up and there’s going to be some terrible decision made,” said Ilene Shane, the CEO of the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania.

Stephen Suroviec, executive director of the Arc of Pennsylvania, which advocates for citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities, echoed the sentiment.

“We’re concerned they’ll be in a rush to impose changes with the sole purpose of saving money, as opposed to having done the proper vetting to make sure it doesn’t harm people,” he said.

With its new powers, the Department of Public Welfare is expected to make changes, possibly dramatic ones, to programs against the backdrop of spending cuts ordered by the Republican-controlled Legislature to help fill a multibillion-dollar, recession-fueled deficit without raising taxes.

In late June, lawmakers speedily proposed and approved an amendment to state law that would lift the requirement that the Department of Public Welfare seek public comment for 30 days and, after that, approval from a five-member regulatory review board when making substantial changes to services that make up the state’s safety net.

When it reviews a proposed regulatory change, one of the key tests the Independent Regulatory Review Commission members consider is whether the change is in the public’s interest.

But the regulatory review process can last months, and Corbett was emphatic about getting the ability to cut costs more quickly after fellow Republicans who lead the Legislature required the administration to cut hundreds of millions of dollars out of Department of Public Welfare programs, said Joe Scarnati, the Senate’s president pro tempore from Jefferson County.

“‘You’ve got to take some handcuffs off me if you want to see these savings,”’ Scarnati recalled the governor as saying.

Department spokeswoman Anne Bale declined to give details about what types of cost-cutting changes the agency will make, or when it will announce them.

“We are trying to do our best with the least amount of pain, but with that said, we are going to have to make cuts and we’re going to take a big-picture look at everything and decide on the best approach,” Bale said.

The Department of Public Welfare will handle more money than any other state agency this year — almost $28 billion, including federal funds, or almost half of the total.