TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Alexandra Patterson pushed her son Aries Valenzuela in a chair he uses everyday. He was born with a rare genetic disorder called 5Q31.3 Full Deletion Syndrome.
“Every day can be a new challenge. That’s what makes our kids so unique,” Patterson said.
The Division of Developmental Disabilities gave Valenzuela money for his chair. They also pay Patterson to care for him through their Parents as Paid Caregivers program.
The DDD said they’re going to be running out of money for May and June. They said more people are using their services and it’s more expensive to deliver those services, so it has put a strain on their finances.
“If we don’t get the funding that we need in order to provide for our kids, again, we’re going to look into moving,” Patterson said.
The DDD said more than 59,000 people with disabilities and families from Arizona use their services. They said that number could go up to 70,000 people next year.
Patterson said if they don’t get the money they need from the DDD, she would have to give up her job because the money goes towards nurses who take care of Aries while she works. She said she would have to pay about $10,000 out of pocket without the DDD’s help.
“It affects my career. It affects his well being. We rely on these resources, and we put together something that works well for him,” Patterson said.
Both Senate Bill 1734 and House Bill 2945 would allocate more than $122 million to the Division of Developmental Disability. The bills would also cap the PPCG program Patterson is in at 40 hours.
“Anything that reduces the hours or the care for our children shouldn’t be what we’re looking at,” Patterson said.
At the state capital many have advocated for the money for months.
Senate Bill 1734 and House Bill 2945 are mirror bills, meaning they both have the same language. They would both allocate money from four state programs to the DDD.
Both bills would also make state agencies report if they think they’re going to run out of federal money and make the Governor’s Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting (Director) report how state agencies are using federal money.
“You can’t put a value on a special need’s child’s life. It’s hard for me to sit here and delegate my child costs this much,” Patterson said.
Republicans introduced both bills. David Livingston, the House Appropriations chair blames Governor Katie Hobbs for what he said is an “unbalanced budget”.
In February Livingston said he held several appropriation committee hearings and Hobbs’ office would not meet with him.
“You may not love this bill, but the alternative… the alternative is what?” Livingston said during a hearing this week.
Hobbs argues the bills should only allocate money but not change policies that affect its rates and how the DDD gets money through Medicaid.
“They won’t send me anything to negotiate on. They know where my position is, they have my budget, and they’re just saying 'no, no, no, no,'” Hobbs said back in February about Republicans.
Last week Hobbs said was the first time Republicans approached her with any solutions.
On Thursday she announced she wouldn’t sign any legislation until Republicans pass money for the DDD. She said it would apply to any bill not transmitted to her yet.
KGUN9 News reporter Andrew Christiansen emailed the DDD and Livingston, but the DDD did not answer his questions and Livingston did not reply to him at all.
“We talked about this a few weeks ago. This has been an issue for a few months now. How does it make you feel know that politicians haven’t come up with a solution yet?” Christiansen asked Patterson.
“It’s never that we want to sound ungrateful, but we’re fighting for our kids, not just a budget,” she said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
