What we are thankful for...

As our thoughts turn gratefully to those who have made our progress possible, there is no time more fitting to say thank you to our valued members and supporters. 

The staff at InterHab wish you a bountiful Thanksgiving holiday with your friends and loved ones. 

May your burdens be light and your bellies be full! 

How will Kansas lawmakers solve its $1 billion problem?

Disability advocates will not be alone this year during the coming budget debates. Every nook and cranny of the State budget is about to be picked apart.  The wholesale give-away of revenues largely driven by historically deep income tax cuts is making dire predictions come closer on our immediate horizon.

Kansas is now poised to face a budget crisis for one simple reason: the same decision-makers whose fiscal policies have created this mess seem convinced (or want us to be convinced) that trickle-down fiscal policies will work, if only we give them time to work. It is our alternative hope that a fact-based examination of the financial hole will cause all thoughtful legislators to revisit some of the decisions which dug the hole.

According to an article in the Wichita Eagle, lawmakers will have to drastically cut spending and/or raise taxes. Republican legislators have already begun dividing into two camps about how to solve the state’s budget woes, foretelling a fight that’ll play out within the party that controls both the Kansas House and Senate. Kansas is projected to have a cumulative budget hole of more than $1.4 billion by July 1, 2016.

Read more here. 

2014 Elections - Moving forward on behalf of Kansans with intellectual & developmental disabilities

Stand up for I/DD issues in KS government

No matter how you voted in this week’s election you can feel pride in knowing that you did your part in promoting the candidates and issues you believe in.  And whether or not the results came back the way you hoped, it doesn't change what your goal should be in the coming months: building and maintaining positive working relationships with legislators and government officials.

Kansans with intellectual and developmental disabilities need your help. With recent landscape changes to the I/DD service system, changes in federal funding rules, and stagnant funding, your advocacy is needed now more than ever!

Spend time this fall and winter educating legislators and policymakers on the big issues. Be proactive. Write, email, and schedule personal meetings in order to help make your elected officials aware of the challenges facing the I/DD service system in Kansas. If you’re looking for new and creative ways to engage in advocacy, InterHab can help. Just email mfletcher@interhab.org or call 785.235.5103.