Vermont developmental disabilities council warns draft federal cuts would curtail services and oversight

Kirsten Murphy, executive director of the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council, told the House Appropriations Committee on April 25 that a leaked draft of the federal budget would zero out funding for state DD councils, protection-and-advocacy organizations and university disability centers, with immediate and downstream impacts for people with disabilities in Vermont.

Murphy said DD councils were established by Congress in 1970 and that the Vermont council currently receives the statutory minimum — “that is $526,000 a year” — to support council work across the state. She told the committee the council has been flat-funded for five years and receives essentially no state general funds, supporting three state positions and a public board that must include a majority of members with intellectual or developmental disabilities or family members.

The council’s work, Murphy said, is not advisory window dressing but a statutory part of how federal disability policy is implemented at the state level. “We were created in 1970 by Congress through the Federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act,” she said, and the councils provide leadership, direct input into state policy and help ensure federal requirements tied to programs such as Medicaid are met.

Murphy described specific programs and leverage that rely on relatively small federal appropriations. The Vermont DD Council co‑wrote the Pathways to Partnership grant that brought $10,000,000 to Vermont for transition and pre‑employment services for youth with disabilities. She credited the council’s partnership with the state treasurer for a successful ABLE savings program, noting “today, more than 1,200 Vermonters have ABLE accounts with over $11,500,000 under management.”

Murphy also described ripple effects if the draft budget is enacted: the state’s Disability Law Project would lose funding that currently supports roughly two to three attorneys who handled about 130 individuals’ disability‑related legal cases last year; the University Center for Disability and Community Inclusion (CDCI) at UVM — a $5.9 million program — would lose roughly $600,000 in federal funds that the center uses to leverage additional resources (Murphy said CDCI brings about $9.60 in other funding for every federal dollar it receives). She warned that reductions in advocacy, legal help and family supports could lead to increased medical emergencies, unstable housing, worse education outcomes and other state costs.

Committee members asked for documentation and for Murphy’s office to submit materials; Murphy said she would do so and that national DD council partners were pressing to reverse the proposed cuts. She noted the draft is not final but said, “the current politics suggest that we should take those cuts very, very seriously.”

Murphy also described the council’s role inside state government: co‑chairing the Health Equity Advisory Commission and participating in at least 15 advisory groups at the Agency of Human Services and the Agency of Education. She said councils are required by statute to channel at least 70% of their dollars to state plan work rather than overhead.

The committee did not take formal action; Murphy’s testimony was received for the record and committee members indicated they would request written follow‑up materials from the council.