The word "advocacy" is a powerful word to me. It is a word that speaks about action; doing something that results in having your voice counted in a way that matters to you.

The Oregon budget building process is at a critical crossroads. We know the revenue forecast. We know the estimates of the needs for schools, human services and corrections, which are the majority of the state budget. We also know that there is a continuing decline in the economy of our beautiful state of Oregon that may last for the rest of this year. Advocacy will play an important part over the next several weeks as decisions are made toward managing our future.

The proposed Co-Chairs Recommended Budget of May 18 has taken the first step in trying to find ways to balance the state budget over the next two years. In the programs that serve seniors and people with disabilities, there are proposed cuts that exceed $123 million in state funding. This reflects an overall reduction of 12 percent from the current estimate of the funding necessary to support existing seniors and people with disabilities who are served in Oregon.

One of the most distressing proposed reductions is to the program that serves seniors and people with disabilities who live at home. With a proposed reduction of nearly $19 million in state funds to the in-home program, the cut reduces the monthly hours of help in the areas of housekeeping, shopping, transportation, medication management and meal preparation. On average, this amounts to a 40 percent reduction in the number of hours of help that people will receive through this service. We are putting people at risk if they try to live at home without adequate support services. We will see many people move to 24 hour care setting because they can not live safely at home with a 40 percent cut to their in-home help.

The co-chairs' budget proposal also leaves unanswered the question of whether or not the Oregon Project Independence Program (OPI) will continue to exist come July 1. There is some hope, because the independence program is listed in the document, but that program has no committed funding for the next two years. The loss of OPI will mean that we will further erode the ability of vulnerable seniors to live in their own homes. In tandem with the reductions to the in-home program, we are creating a big hole in the safety net for Oregonians.

An additional consequence of these reductions will be the loss of jobs. The dedicated people who work with our vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities will not be able to continue in their positions. There are estimates of up to 6,000 lost jobs. These people will become unemployed if these reductions take place. We will see many trained and qualified people leave this helping profession to the detriment of those that need the help.

This is the time to step up, speak to the issues, and share your beliefs with those that we have elected to represent you in Salem. This is the time be an advocate.

Scott Bond is the Director of Senior and Disability Services for Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments, the Area Agency on Aging for Benton, Linn and Lincoln counties. He can be reached at 541-812-6008 or by

e-mail at sbond@ocwcog.org.