budget hearing Tue. Pls support elimination of wait lists, raise worker pay to 160% of min wage

[Maine Disability Alerts]

Dear Friends of Mainers with Disabilities,

Public hearing on the biennial budget is this Tuesday afternoon, starting at 1 pm (gotta wait for the administration to present the budget, so the public testimony might start at, I dunno, 2 pm? The hearing will go on for who knows how many hours.)

This public hearing will cover "Adult Developmental Services"--the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) in Section 21 and 29 for adults with autism or intellectual disabilities, Section 18 for adults with brain injury, and Section 20 for adults with "other related conditions" including spina bifida and cerebral palsy.

• There is an initiative in the budget to eliminate the Section 29 wait list. Please consider testifying in support of that initiative.
• There are no initiatives to address the Section 18 wait list (which now has 185 people on it) or the Section 20 wait list (which now has 16 people on it). Please consider asking the legislature to add money to eliminate the Section 18 and Section 20 wait lists.
• There are budget initiatives to continue paying direct care workers 125% of minimum wage. Because this is not enough to compete against Wal Mart jobs, please consider asking the legislature to add money to the budget raise direct care worker wages well *above* 125%. I'd suggest something approaching 160% of minimum wage.

To testify:

• Go to https://www.mainelegislature.org/testimony/
• Click the "Public Hearing" radio button
• Choose "Appropriations and Financial Affairs" from the "Choose a committee" pull-down
• Choose "Feb 21 2023 1:00 PM" from the "Choose a date" pull-down (you want the 1 pm choice, not the 10 am choice)
• Click the "LD 258" radio button (it's the only radio button)
• If you want to testify over zoom then be sure to check the "I would like to testify electronically over Zoom." checkbox
• Type your written testimony into the text box or upload your testimony with the "Choose File" button
• Fill in your first namek, last name, city/town, email address, and phone number from which you'll dial in if necessary
• Check "I'm not a robot" and press "Submit/Register"

You'll then get an email from the legislature confirming your upload, giving you the chance to click to put the hearing on your calendar, and including a zoom link (if you said you want to testify via zoom).

The zoom testimony is a webinar. That means that, until they "promote" to participant, you can only listen. Shortly before it's your turn to testify, they'll "promote" you. It'll look like you've lost your zoom connection for a second or two, but then you'll be back in the webinar, this time able to talk and testify.

You can also testify in person in room 228 of the state house in Augusta. Me, I'm gonna do it over zoom.

Thank you!