The Crux Blog: Arizona Refuses Federal Money for the Disabled

What if there was a program that equipped disabled individuals to leave the welfare rolls and enter into gainful, tax-paying employment?

In fact, there is one and it's very popular. Many disabled people come to Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) wanting to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, get off the welfare rolls and become tax-paying citizens instead.

So successful is the program that the federal government offers to pay three-quarters of the cost. Yet die-hard tea-partiers in the Arizona Legislature have refused this "dirty Obama money" for several years. As a result, people who are genuinely motivated to get off of welfare have been sitting on waiting lists, still collecting government checks, for years.

"The Vocational Rehabilitation program provides a variety of services to persons with disabilities, with the ultimate goal to prepare for, enter into, or retain employment. The VR program is a public program funded through a Federal/State partnership and administered by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), which is part of the Arizona Department of Economic Security." (*1)

Clearly, getting these people off of welfare (a net loss of government funds) and turning them into tax-payers (a net gain of government funds,) is an investment that will easily pay for itself.

But "due to limited state funding, individuals determined eligible for the vocational rehabilitation program (have been) placed on a waitlist for services." (*2)

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There are two ways the government can increase tax revenues: the much despised increasing of tax rates; or INCREASING THE NUMBER OF TAX-PAYERS! Voc Rehab creates new tax-payers out of people once on welfare and unemployment.

It should be noted that before these federal matching funds were "dirty Obama money," it was OUR money! We should begin to bring it back to Arizona for this important program!

The GOP led Arizona Legislature has gone WAY beyond cutting government waste and is now cutting into government services that make sense for both individual citizens and society in general.

Republicans speak a great deal about putting those on welfare back into the workforce, but if these fine people are not given the training necessary to obtain a living-wage job, they will never get a living-wage job! Without this very necessary and practical program, their musings are all just talk, talk, talk.

There's an old cliche about "cutting off one's nose..." Let's not allow this to continue in Arizona.

USE THIS LINK to find and contact your state representative about restoring Voc Rehab funds.

SOURCES:
(*1) https://www.azdes.gov/main.aspx?menu=32&id=1394#What_is_the_Vocational_Rehabilitation_(VR)_program?
(*2) https://www.azdes.gov/main.aspx?menu=32&id=1394#Why_is_there_a_waitlist_for_services?