TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — For the past few months, Alexandra Patterson has been worried about the Division of Developmental Disabilities running out money. That’s because her son Aries Valenzuela gets money through the division to fund his chair and Patterson gets money to be his caregiver.
“If we lost DDD, it would mean my child’s ability to thrive,” Patterson said back in March.
Her son Aries lives with a rare genetic disorder called 5Q31.3 Full Deletion Syndrome, which means he has to use a breathing tube.
“It’s never that we want to sound ungrateful but we’re fighting for our kids, not just a budget,” Patterson said recently.
The Department of Economic Security said over 59 thousand people use the DDD’s services.
Governor Katie Hobbs recently signed HB2945 into law after Republicans and Democrats agreed on funding. It gives the DDD over $525 million allocated from the Prescription Drug Rebate Fund and Medicaid Expenditure Authority.
The money is going to fund the DDD through the rest of the fiscal year. If they had not gotten funded, they would have had to wait on funding from next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
Recently Governor Hobbs announced she would veto any new bill that came to her desk until Republicans and Democrats agreed on funding for the DDD. After the bill passed, she overturned her decision.
This comes after months of Republican and Democratic lawmakers arguing over solutions to the DDD running out of money.
The DDD said they were going to run out of money at the end of April because there has been more demand for their services and the cost to deliver those services is more expensive.
Republican House Appropriations Chair David Livingston and Democrat House Minority Whip Nancy Gutierrez worked on the bill.
“This was very difficult but it came down to teamwork,” Livingston said after it passed while Gutierrez said, “It’s not perfect but it is a great compromise from both sides.”
HB2945 puts a cap of 40 hours on the Parents as Paid Caregivers Program that Patterson is in. Patterson said she’s already capped at 40 hours. She said the bill passing is a step in the right direction, but she’s worried about parents who are not capped at 40 hours.
“I know that every kid’s needs are different so hopefully the state can find other ways to support those families and the hour cuts,” she said.
Now HB 2945 makes all state agencies who use federal money report that money to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee including if they think one of their programs will run out.
While Patterson said that information is going to be beneficial, she feels like lawmakers argued for so long without a solution, that it could happen again.
“We knew that we were running out of money and no changes were being made,” she said. “There definitely needs to be a better relationship between the parties when it comes to vulnerable families.”
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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.
