Although funding for Florida Adults with Disabilities (AWD) budget has been cut by millions of dollars, on Wednesday, Gov. Rick Scott touted his record of funding persons with disabilities at a ceremonial bill signing on Wednesday.
The state’s Adults with Disabilities program was cut from $10 million to $750,000 after some senators questioned its effectiveness, according to The Palm Beach Post.
“We put that in our budget,” Scott said, referring to the budget his office proposes before the legislative session starts every year. “We’ll put that in our budget again next year, but the legislature has to fund it.”
On Wednesday, Scott ceremonially signed SB 642, the Florida Achieving a Better Life Act, at Gulfstream Goodwill Industries in West Palm Beach.
“We have made significant accomplishments to help improve the lives of individuals with disabilities in Florida by signing the ABLE Act and continuing to eliminate the entire critical needs waiting list for a second year in a row,” Scott said. ‘We still have more work to do and that is why I look forward to once again recommend investments into vocational rehabilitation services to help provide job training to adults with disabilities in my proposed budget later this year.”
The budgets cuts to support programs for persons with disabilities have angered many, with some people describing them as “unconscionable,” The Palm Beach Post also reported.
