HARRISBURG, February 28, 2012 – – Democratic Appropriations Chair Vincent Hughes (D-Phila./Montgomery) took Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Secretary Gary Alexander to task regarding egregious cuts to human services proposed by Governor Tom Corbett at the department’s budget hearing today.
[audio:https://senatorhughes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/dpw-budget-hearing-hughes-webstory.mp3|titles=dpw-budget-hearing-hughes-webstory]“These cuts are unnecessary and downright cruel,” Hughes said. “This Administration is putting its foot on the neck of poor folks, while large multi-national corporations are set to receive $265 million in tax cuts. This just doesn’t make sense.”
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Hughes stated that the individuals most affected by these cuts are women, especially those recovering from domestic abuse and substance abuse, seniors, children, as well as mentally and physically disabled individuals.
Governor Tom Corbett’s budget proposal tears at Pennsylvania’s social safety net by proposing an additional $600 million in cuts to human service programs. These cuts are on top of the more than $1 billion in cuts approved last year.
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“Hundreds of thousands of individuals have lost access to health care and other critical programs under the guise of rooting out fraud and abuse and now we have to confront these new attacks on programs that aid the poor, disabled, elderly and abused,” Hughes said. “These cuts will bring even more hardship.”
Hughes said that the lack of jobs, due to the the economic downturn, has caused an increase in the need for the services that DPW provides.
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