Little sacrifice could keep children off streets

The dust has settled after crossover, and I’ll touch on education really quickly, and then I’m going to talk about the mid-year Budget Adjustment Act and how incredibly horrible I think it is that our governor wants to make a bunch of kids homeless starting two days from now.

Everyone was wondering when we’d get an education plan, and now look — we have three! The governor has a plan, Senate Education has a plan, and House Education has a plan. I’m assuming that the eventual course of action will be some compromise between the three, but I’ll stand by my earlier assertion that I’ll be shocked if there’s a realistic, comprehensive one by mid-May, which is when we’re supposed to adjourn. The details of the three plans differ wildly, with one common thread: fewer school districts, fewer schools, larger classes. We’ll see where that gets us.

Okay, the Budget Adjustment Act. Every January when we come back to the State House, we re-assess the budget (“the big bill”) from the previous May and see where we need to make some changes. This year’s BAA featured money to extend the state’s hotel/motel program that serves as temporary housing for people who would otherwise generally be unhoused.

The program itself is expensive, not well conceived and was never meant to serve as a permanent solution to the problem of homelessness. HOWEVER: I don’t think we need to choose sending people out onto the streets as the hill we’re going to die on. I don’t even understand it. The governor is cool with buying down our property taxes for the next two years with almost $80 million, but he can’t take 2 of those millions to keep pregnant people, children, people with disabilities, seniors and people with mental health challenges off the streets?

The plan is, literally, to give them tents. To hand families tents and say, “Here you go. No one wants you in their communities sleeping in a tent, but go find somewhere to sleep with your children and hope for the best.” Even though many of the homeless camps are places challenged with violence, drug use, crime and danger for adults, LET ALONE CHILDREN.

Who are we if we’re willing to take a little property tax boost (and believe me, the boost you get from $2 million taken off that $70-something million is negligible) at the expense of the most vulnerable people in our communities? I don’t care if they’re suffering from substance use disorder: they’re sick. I don’t care if they’re having mental health struggles: they’re struggling. I don’t care if you think they should get a job: maybe they should, maybe they can’t.

But I do know this: None of us wants to be in their shoes. Many of us could end up there, through one series of disasters after another. And if we can’t recognize that when we help those who are suffering, we’re helping our entire state, then we need to get a little perspective.

I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow when they start phasing people out of the motel/hotel program, but I do know we don’t have housing, we don’t have room for everyone in the shelters, and we don’t have a plan for how to help people get back on their feet after the motel/hotel program comes to an end.

If you’d like to help, call the governor. Call him every day! You’re allowed to! He’s your governor! He won’t answer the phone, don’t worry, this isn’t his personal cell or anything, but you can call his office and let them know what’s important to you. And if you support putting kids out on the street, call and let him know that, too. I’m sure he’d appreciate your support. The number is 802-828-3333.

My number is 917-887-8231 and my email. Please be in touch!