The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Executive Department
State House Boston, MA 02133
(617) 725-4000
MITT ROMNEY
GOVERNOR
KERRY HEALEY
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 4, 2003 CONTACT:
Shawn Feddeman
(617) 727-2759
DISPELLING THE MYTHS
Commonly asked questions on the budget
1. Is it true that Governor Romney is cutting school breakfast for impoverished children?
No. Massachusetts has a universal school breakfast program in low-income school districts, which is open to all children regardless of need so that lower-income children do not feel stigmatized by taking part in a subsidized program. The reduction in the program does not affect the neediest children. However, children from families who do not meet federal eligibility guidelines will have to eat breakfast at home.
2. Why are school nurses being laid off?
A reduction in the Smoking Prevention and Cessation program eliminates grants to over 150 communities to supplement school health programs. Some districts used the monies to increase their school nursing staffs. This was an enhancement of the basic program requiring a school nurse for every school district. In a time of financial emergency, preventative programs like these have been de-emphasized. Chapter 70, the funding source that provides $3.3 billion in direct aid to local schools, was not cut, and that should allow schools to maintain the necessary level of school health services.
3. Why is Governor Romney curbing growth in the Prescription Advantage program? Isn't that a core service?
Massachusetts is the only state in the nation that provides a universal senior prescription insurance program. It was an expansion program added during the go-go days of the 90s, when the state was projecting huge surpluses. New enrollments have been suspended. The state is seeking a Medicaid waiver to pay a portion of the program's cost. If the waiver is not forthcoming, the program will have to be scaled back to only the neediest seniors.
4. Have housing programs been gutted by Governor Romney's spending cuts?
No public housing units will be vacated and no units currently under renovation will be delayed. No rental assistance or homelessness programs have been cut. A lot of attention has been focused on $7.5 million that Governor Romney has proposed transferring out of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to help balance the budget. Of the $7.5 million cut, $5 million will be completely covered through capital funds. The remaining $2.5 million has yet to be awarded, so obviously no one is directly affected.
5. Is it true that the mentally ill will no longer receive MassHealth coverage for psychiatric services?
No. While psychiatric day treatment coverage has been eliminated, MassHealth clients will continue to receive coverage for medically necessary outpatient mental health services. These services include individual, group and family therapy, medication evaluation and management, psychiatric emergency services and inpatient psychiatric services. In addition, the Department of Mental Health is reviewing the list of people who had received psychiatric day treatment services to determine how many are DMH clients and whether they are eligible for DMH-funded day rehabilitation and support programs.
6. Do the reductions to the Employment Services Program mean that welfare recipients are no longer receiving career assistance?
No. The Department of Transitional Assistance will continue to offer services to people moving from welfare to work through its on-site career centers. Over the last five years, while the welfare caseload has declined nearly 30 percent, funding for the Employment Services program has grown by nearly 20 percent. In the context of all the services the state provides to welfare recipients, including cash benefits, housing, food stamps, health care and child care, this seemed the least harmful program to reduce.
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