Advocates appeared before the Legislature Wednesday to oppose a $1.65 million budget cut targeting families on Reach Up who have household member with a disability. The Administration proposal would count $125 of an adult SSI beneficiary’s income against the rest of the household’s Reach Up grant. Children receiving SSI would be exempt from the proposal. The proposal would affect approximately 1,100 Reach Up households with adult SSI beneficiaries. The hearing was for advocates and the public for comments on Vermont’s budget before the House Appropriations Committee.
“This proposal essentially amounts to a ‘disability tax’ on families least able to afford it,” said Christopher Curtis, an attorney with Vermont Legal Aid. Curtis said the impact of the reduction in benefits is similar to imposing a 23.5% tax increase for a household of 3 with one family member who receives disability income. In that scenario the Reach Up grant would normally be about $530 less the $125 deduction, equivalent to a 23.5% tax. Curtis pointed out that the state’s highest marginal tax rate for earners making more than about $350,000 is only 8.95%. “Soaking the poor is no solution,” said Curtis. “They’re already drenched with the high costs of food, shelter, and utilities – and trying to meet the needs of a family member with a disability,” he said. In the end, this won’t solve the budget crisis, but it will make life more difficult for the very poorest families and their loved ones with disabilities,” said Curtis.
Other organizations opposed to counting SSI benefits as income to reduce Reach Up household grants include: the Vermont Low Income Advocacy Council, Voices for Vermont’s Children, the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council, the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, Disability Rights Vermont, Green Mountain Self Advocates, and the Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights.