Disabled Demonstrate at Deukmejian’s Home
More than 150 people, many of them disabled, picketed Gov. George Deukmejian’s Long Beach home Monday morning to protest proposed state budget cuts in funding for the disabled.
The protesters, some in wheelchairs, complained that Deukmejian wants to slash state support for 26 Independent Living Centers operating throughout California. The centers offer support services for the disabled, helping them seek jobs and housing and teaching them to live on their own.
“Don’t balance your budget on our lives,” proclaimed one poster carried by a woman in a wheelchair.
The centers get $5 million a year, or about a third of their annual budget, from the state, according to Norma Jean Vescovo, executive director of the Independent Living Centers of Southern California.
The proposed cut is one of many being considered in Sacramento as the governor and legislators wrestle to close a yawning budget deficit.
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