Posted on: Wednesday, September 8, 2004
Agencies urge Lingle to release $25 million in aid
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
After state budget cuts forced ORI Anuenue Hale to cut back on its elderly transportation services, Jennifer Glazier and her sister have been taking time off from work to drive their parents, who are in their late 60s, from Waialua to doctor appointments at least several times a month.
With ORI Anuenue Hale facing the possibility of further reductions in state support, Glazier is worried that other services the organization provides to her parents — including monthly home visits — will end.
"I'm afraid of that because I need to work full time and my parents are not getting any younger, and I'm sure their condition is going to worsen," she said.
Representatives from ORI Anuenue Hale were among the health and human services organizations that gathered yesterday to urge Gov. Linda Lingle to release about $25 million budgeted for drug treatment and prevention, social services and other programs.
Debbie Shimizu, executive director for the National Association of Social Workers-Hawai'i chapter, noted that Lingle touted Hawai'i's economic recovery at the Republican National Convention last week.
"Today, a wide variety of agencies make up a safety net of services that help the people of our state who are indigent and marginalized, including the unemployed, the hungry, victims of domestic violence, frail and vulnerable immigrants, teens and young adults teetering on the brink of the ice epidemic," Shimizu said.
"If we turn our backs on these programs, we jeopardize the future for all of Hawai'i's residents," she said.
The news conference at Palama Settlement was held just two days before the state Council on Revenues is scheduled to make new revenue projections, which serve as the basis for the state budget.
Lingle's administration has maintained that it would withhold new appropriations in the state's $3.6 billion general fund budget at least until after the state Council on Revenues meets tomorrow, but it has been reviewing budget items case by case.
Budget director Georgina Kawamura said she's looking forward to a favorable revenue projection and that the department will continue to evaluate new appropriations.
"Although we are optimistic that we will get a very positive projection, again we want to be responsible with regard to spending," she said.
ORI Anuenue Hale, which provides services to the elderly and the disabled in central O'ahu and the North Shore, already has trimmed programs after previous budget cuts, and state officials have warned that more may follow, said program director Yvonne de Luna.
If that happens, de Luna said, the agency's services for the disabled may end, and its elderly services likely will be scaled back.
ORI Anuenue Hale also has been waiting for the release of $2.5 million for the development of an elder-care facility, she said.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
