Lawmakers faced increased 'harassment' over DDA budget cuts, as advocates faced impacts

Lawmakers faced increased ‘harassment’ over DDA budget cuts, as advocates faced impacts

In another round of tense budget discussions and steep cuts to disability services, budget leaders and advocates anticipated impassioned and challenging dialogue as families across the state pleaded with lawmakers to fund those services. What they didn’t anticipate was this: Verbal and online harassment of lawmakers and their staff over those cuts that reached a new intensity this year, to the point where some groups issued not one, but two, sta…

Lawmakers faced increased 'harassment' over DDA budget cuts, as advocates faced impacts

Advocates for self-directed care for developmentally disabled Marylanders gather at Lawyers Mall in March to push back against $126 million in cuts to the Developmental Disabilities Administration. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/MaryAdvcates fro land Matters)In another round of tense budget discussions and steep cuts to disability services, budget leaders and advocates anticipated impassioned and challenging dialogue as families across the state pl…