Disability Law

Pennsylvania Disability Advocates Seek to Thwart Governor's Budget Plan with Lawsuit

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Disability advocates have filed a lawsuit that claims Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett violated state law with a budget proposal.

The suit by the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania says Corbett has proposed combining funding for several public welfare programs into block grants that would be dispensed to counties. The proposal violates state law, the suit says, because funding must be specifically allocated to programs for mental illness and intellectual disabilities. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Patriot News have stories.

Kelli Roberts, a spokeswoman for the governor, says the lawsuit is premature. “The governor has put this on the table as a proposal, but everything is being negotiated and everything may change,” Roberts told the Patriot News. “So at this point in time, a lawsuit is frivolous.”

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