Lost but not forgotten

In Colorado, 40 percent of citizens who educated themselves about Amendment 51, supported and voted Yes. Another 60 percent who were not educated on the crisis of 12,000 individuals (both children and adults) who through no fault of their own have a developmental disability, such as Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome and other kinds of moderate to severe conditions of intellectual disabilities....voted NO. This was a crushing defeat, but parents and other grassroots advocates are not down and out. We are mobilizing our next steps. There was no organized opposition, but there were opponents that said we should go to the legislature. Ironically these were legislators who knew that we'd already been to the 2008 Legislative Session and there were minimal funds allocated by the governor. Most of the interim committee members, some of which were fiscally conservative Republicans, agreed that Amendment 51 was the only solution. The two legislators who voted no on every bill that came from the interim committee on long-term care healthcare services and supports, were the ones opposing amendment 51. They are the ones who said we should go to the legislature. It's a dog chasing it's tail. Colorado has a unique amendment to the constitution that says we must go to the voters and ask them for any statuatory or constitutional changes. This is what we did. The Tabor Amendment requires there shall be no spending beyond a 6 percent spending limit. The legislators are strapped to do the job we have elected them to do.
The loss of the A51 is a loss that we couldn't afford, but families and advocates will continue to fight the good fight. We need to set a precedent for other states, as there are nearly a million individuals with developmental disabilities waiting a decade or more for the needed services for which they are deemed eligible. The United States has 15 percent of it's population who have developmental disabilities. This is not that small a minority. We can not afford to continue and neglect the needs of this vulnerable population. If you multiply their parents, siblings, grandparents, friends and neighbors...that is more than half the population. Not everyone will care about the less fortunate, but something has to be done!