Disabilities check-off would cut waiting list Bill would help 1,200 county residents without services By ALLISON BOURG, Staff Writer Published 02/22/10

By making a simple check mark on their state income tax return, Marylanders can donate a portion of their refund to Chesapeake Bay restoration, to cancer research and even to campaign finance reform.

  

More than 19,000 residents with disabilities are waiting for state-funded services, and about half are in a crisis situation, providers said. About 1,200 Anne Arundel residents on are the list.

 

"We believe that the state absolutely needs to take significant steps to address the Developmental Disabilities Administration waiting list and chronic underfunding," said Laura Howell, executive director of the Maryland Association of Community Services. "This is a creative approach."

 

Sen. Rona Kramer, D-Montgomery, introduced a bill to establish the Waiting List Equity Fund after attending a town hall meeting last fall. A hearing was held Wednesday in Annapolis before the Senate's Budget and Taxation Committee.

 

The Maryland Association of Community Services, the Arc of Maryland and other disabilities providers sponsored a series of meetings throughout the state to raise awareness. Howell said numerous families, many who are on the waiting list, spoke about the need for more funding.

 

"A lot of legislators were interested and wanted to do something," Howell said.

 

The Equity Fund would be similar to the Chesapeake Bay and Endangered Species Fund, the Fair Campaign Financing Fund and the Maryland Cancer Fund.

When submitting their income taxes, residents can check off whether they want to donate to any or all of these funds.

 

Residents donate about $500,000 to the Cancer Fund annually for cancer research, said Cristine Marchand, director of the Arc of Maryland.

 

Even half that amount would go a long way, she said.

 

Many of those on the waiting list are being cared for by aging parents, Marchand said. Donations to the Equity Fund would go first toward families with the oldest caregivers.

 

Many parents with developmentally disabled children are in their 60s and 70s, sometimes older, Howell said.

 

"It takes a big toll on their health," she said. "As people get older, it gets harder and harder to provide that level of care."

 

Sen. Bryan Simonaire, R-Pasadena, and Sen. Ed DeGrange, D-Glen Burnie, are co-sponsoring the bill.

 

"We've been trying to deal with underfunding for quite some time. The need is greater than the funds available," Simonaire said. "This is something that would help a lot of families."

 

DeGrange, a member of the Senate's Budget and Taxation Committee, said no one testified against the bill. He called it an innovative way to bring in money for the developmental disabilities community.

 

Marchand said state figures show donations to existing tax checkoff funds have remained relatively flat over the last 20 years. There also are some concerns that donations to the Equity Fund would take away from donations to the other funds.

 

She's still hopeful the bill could pass.

 

"Anything to help with the waiting list, even if it doesn't generate as much money as we'd hoped," Marchand said.

 

Rick Callahan, deputy director for the Arc of the Central Chesapeake Region, said a checkoff fund would also educate people about the waiting list.

 

"The worst case scenario is that it will provide a greater awareness for additional funding," Callahan said.