[Blindtlk] Budget And Economy Hurting Blind Oregonians

[T. Joseph Carter]

Link to the story: http://is.gd/BeKW

Budget And Economy Hurting Blind Oregonians
BY ROB MANNING
Portland, OR  May 18, 2009 3:26 p.m.

Advocates for blind Oregonians say their potential for independent 
living is under threat, because of cost-cutting measures directed at 
institutions they rely on.  Rob Manning reports.


Legislators are moving a bill forward that would close the state's 
School for the Blind, and sell off the campus. And last week, 
Governor Ted Kulongoski suggested suspending a few state advisory 
boards, including the Oregon Commission for the Blind.

This all comes at a time when the economy is hurting the blind.

Art Stevenson, president of the Oregon chapter of the National 
Federation for the Blind says about seven in ten blind Oregonians are 
jobless.

Art Stevenson: “The governor’s recommendations will make the 
unemployment rate go up. It won’t make it go down.”

A spokeswoman for the governor’s office says the idea is deliver 
services more cost-effectively, not eliminate them.

Stevenson argues that short-term savings will cost more, long-term, 
because blind people won’t get the job-training they need, and will 
end up relying more on state services.

© 2009 OPB