How should Louisiana fund its disability services? Governor candidates weigh in

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Three of Louisiana’s seven major candidates for governor said funding for people with disabilities would be a state budget priority if they were elected.

They were among the five gubernatorial candidates who spoke at a forum sponsored by the Community Provider Association – made up of organizations who furnish services to people with disabilities – in Baton Rouge Thursday.

“It’s a shame you have to go fight the way you fight” for state funding, said Treasurer John Schroder, a Republican running for governor, to a crowd of advocates for disability services at Woman’s Hospital. “You should be first on the list.”

If elected, Schroder, Republican Sen. Sharon Hewitt and former state transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson, a Democrat, all said they would protect state funding used to pay for aides, medical equipment and other assistance for people who have disabilities.

State Rep. Richard Nelson, R-Mandeville, and attorney Hunter Lundy, a political independent, also spoke at the forum and expressed concern about those services but didn’t make a commitment to shielding that state funding from reductions.

Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry has skipped most joint public appearances with other gubernatorial candidates so far and didn’t attend the forum. Waguespack, a former business lobbyist and staff member for former Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, was also absent.

More than $1 billion is expected to be spent on services for people with disabilities in Louisiana this year. Most government assistance for these programs is provided through the state’s Medicaid budget.

In recent years, Gov. John Bel Edwards and legislators have increased funding for these services. They’ve expanded the number of people who receive government assistance and eliminated long wait lists for the services in some cases. Rates for the service providers have also gone up, allowing professionals who work with people with disabilities to be paid more.

But the services have also seen large funding cuts during economic downturns in Louisiana, particularly while Jindal was in office. Unlike other parts of the Medicaid program, the federal government doesn’t require states to offer disability resources, which means they were cut when the state government needed money for other programs.

Schroder and Hewitt said they want to avoid reductions to disability services going forward.

“You all don’t need to be the ones always on the chopping block,” Hewitt said

Wilson, the only Democrat in the race, said he would seek a way to increase the availability of disability assistance if he was elected governor.

The former transportation secretary said he had a close friend with cerebral palsy while he was growing up . He also pushed for better access for students with disabilities as the former student government president at Southwestern Louisiana University, now called the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

Wilson also had to oversee some compliance operations with the Americans with Disabilities Act as the head of the state’s transportation department.

Lundy, a trial attorney who is largely self-financing his campaign, said he had experience raising money for organizations that help people on the autism spectrum.

He said he could help the state fundraise from private sources if more money was needed for these programs, though he didn’t explain how he expected to garner tens of millions of dollars from the private sector year after year.

When asked for his personal connection to people with disability, Nelson said he thinks about a high school classmate who was in a motorcycle accident and needs ongoing assistance as an adult as a result of her injuries. He didn’t go into much detail about what that would mean for funding for those services if he was elected governor.

While Waguespack did not attend the forum, he provided a statement after the event about his commitment to people with disabilities. One of Waguespack’s children is on the autism spectrum.

“Obviously, support for disability services and ensuring families can access solutions is an issue near and dear to my wife and I,” Waguespack said in a written statement. “Colleen and I have volunteered for years with the autism community, felt the financial and emotional stress that comes with these efforts and have fought for attainable services and treatment for those families that need it.”

“I had a conflict and regret the schedule did not allow us to attend today’s discussion, but rest assured, this will continue to be a policy priority for me moving forward,” he said.

Landry’s campaign did not provide a statement about disability services when contacted Thursday afternoon.

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