May 19, 2010
State funding for epilepsy support services has been cut dramatically over the last few years and elected officials in Harrisburg say they expect even more funding cuts in next year’s budget. In February, Governor Edward Rendell proposed just $241,000 in state funding for epilepsy services. In March, the state House of Representatives passed a budget bill for 2010-2011 with the same level of funding for epilepsy services. That proposal, HB 2279, is now being considered by the Pennsylvania state Senate. Officials say that they will begin to take action on next year’s budget in June.
The funding level proposed by the governor and passed by the House is a 60% reduction from the previous $600,000 provided for epilepsy services. This year’s budget provides $356,000 in state funding for epilepsy services. It will be a fight to keep the funding at this current level and restoration of funding to previous levels does not seem likely.
Continuing to keep in touch and make contact with key legislative supporters will be important in efforts to maintain/increase the Epilepsy Support Services line item. Many of these key members of the House & Senate have been supportive of funding for epilepsy services including Representative Bill Adolph and Senator Jay Costa. Those members should be thanked for their advocacy on behalf of people who have seizures but support for funding for epilepsy services must come from all members of the House and Senate.
If you want to find out who represents you in the PA House & Senate, visit PA General Assembly home page at http://www.legis.state.pa.us. Look for the link to “Find Members By” and you will have the option of searching members by zip code or you can find a county list.
Generally, the final state budget proposal is developed by a six member Conference Committee on the Budget. Those members and the leaders in the House & Senate are listed below. President of the Senate and House Speaker Representative Keith McCall.
Representative Dwight Evans – Majority Chair of the Appropriations Committee
devans@pahouse.net
Representative Bill Adolph – Minority Chair of the Appropriations Committee
wadolph@pahousegop.com
Representative Todd Eachus – Majority Leader in the House
teachus@pahousegop.com
Senator Jake Coreman – Majority Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee
corman@pasen.gov
Senator Jay Costa – Minority Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee
costa@pasenate.com
Senator Dominic Pileggi – Majority Leader in the Senate
dpileggi@pasen.gov
Senator Joseph Scarnatti, President of the Senate
jscarnati@pasen.gov
Representative Keith McCall, House Speaker
kmcall@pahouse.net
Anyone interested in helping to advocate for additional state funding for epilepsy services should contact Peggy Beem Jelley at pbeem@efwp.org.
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