$350 million in funding cuts to help disabled children in Texas went into effect last week.
As KXAS reports, the cuts are an effort by state lawmakers to “achieve savings” for the Lone Star State.
Texas Health and Human Services Commission spokeswoman Carrie Williams said her agency is “will monitor the reduction of rates to ensure access to care is not impacted.”
But opponents of the plan insist the cuts will force 60,000 disabled children in Texas to lose access to speech and occupational therapy. Last year when the cuts were proposed, they sparked a statewide outcry from parents of and advocates for disabled children. Advocates sued to stop the cuts, but Texas’s highest court refused to hear the case.
House Speaker Joe Straus says Texas may revisit the cuts, after the Legislature convenes again in January.