No Money Again for the USDB

Briefly:

Kirsten Stewart of the Salt Lake Tribune wrote about the Legislative decision to NOT fund USDB's administration/building needs.

No remake for deaf and blind schools
'Window dressing' » Bill to fix problems is too weak, parents and advocates say.

By Kirsten Stewart

The Salt Lake Tribune
Posted: 02/14/2009 12:13:01 AM MST

If Kenneth Sumsion was hoping to avoid controversy with a "clean up" bill that makes minor tweaks to educational services for the deaf and blind, he missed the mark.

Parents and advocates were expecting a revamp of the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind (USDB). But HB296, the product of two years of study, falls short of that. The legislation is more remarkable, advocates say, for what it doesn't do.

The bill doesn't restrict enrollment to students who need it most, those with multiple and severe disabilities, as some have advocated. Other parents argue that even though the bill appears to make more children eligible for services, there is no guarantee that those with milder impairments will get early interventions, such as sign language and braille.

It makes small changes in governance, skirting the question of whether the institution should be split into one school for blind, and another for deaf students. And it does nothing about parents' calls for new technologies and nicer classrooms.

"At best, the bill changes a few words … It's window dressing," said Ron Gardner, president of the Utah chapter of the National Federation of the Blind. "It drives us nuts because for years we have been trying to draw attention to some of the failures and successes at this institution."

Rep. Sumsion appreciates Gardner's frustration, but doubts he can appease everyone.

The American Fork Republican took part in a two-year task force charged with improving USDB. The group was organized by the Utah Office of Education and included two parents who rarely agreed on the best course of action, said Sumsion. "I think the task force skirted some issues, because they are difficult issues. But this is a good first step."

Nevertheless, parents and advocates are lining up to oppose the bill and have taken their grievances to the governor.

... go HERE to read the entire article.

Thanks to David for alerting me to this!

TAX CHANGE INFORMATION

In case you haven't heard disabled children no longer receive any extra tax deductions. Perhaps as a group or as individual parents we should write some letters. Read on:

This is from an email from Gina Pola-Money of the Utah Family Voices Family to Family Health Information Center, Utah Parent Center. I wrote and asked for more information about the new 2009 tax changes. It is so through that I think I'll just post it as a quote.

This is the information that we have: The State Disabled Tax Exemption has been eliminated for 2008. This was the exemption which included children qualifying for early intervention or special education. Previously families received a Form TC-40D, which helped families by allowing an extra deduction on their state taxes, this is no longer available. The change came about in the 2008 General Session of the Legislature under H.B.359 (Tax Changes) sponsored by John Dougall and Wayne Niederhauser. If you are concerned as a family or want more clarification about the bill, I would contact Representative John Dougall, since he is the co-chair of the 2009 Health and Human Services Joint Appropriations committee at jdougall@utah.gov or 801-492-1365. It would also be a good idea to send an email or call your local representatives. If you need to find out who they are and their contact information you can go to www.familyvoices.org/lac and type in your address, it will give you all the information for your area. Please let me know if there is more information I can provide or other questions I can answer. Take care

Gina Pola-Money
Utah Family Voices Family to Family Health Information Center
Utah Parent Center

The following information comes directly from the utah tax commission website:

What's New for 2008 Tax Year

New Tax System: Utah individual tax law was changed for 2008. The dual tax calculation system used in 2007 no longer applies (using the lower of the 5.35% rate or the graduated tax rates).
Single-Rate Tax: The 2008 Utah tax rate is 5%.
Deductions Repealed: These deductions are no longer available:
One-half the federal tax,
Disabled dependent exemption,
Adoption expenses,
Health insurance premiums, and
Long-term care insurance premiums.
New Credits: These deductions have changed to nonrefundable credits:
Personal exemptions (not disabled dependent exemption),
Standard or itemized deductions (now used to calculate the taxpayer tax credit),
The Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) contributions credit,
The Medical Care Savings Plan (MSA) contributions credit,
The retirement credit, and
The capital gain transactions credit.
New Withholding Tax Form: There is a new Utah form, TC-40W, used to report your Utah withholding tax from forms W-2, 1099, TC-675R, and a Schedule K-1 (for a nonresident shareholder). You will no longer attach withholding tax forms to your Utah return. Not completing the TC-40W may result in processing delays or the credit being disallowed.
Utah Forms Renumbered: These Utah forms have been re-numbered:
The Income Tax Supplemental Schedule is now TC-40A (formerly TC-40S).
The Credit for Income Tax Paid to Another State is now TC-40S (formerly TC-40A).
The Non and Part-year Resident Utah Income Schedule is now TC-40B (formerly TC-40C).
The new retirement tax credit is on form TC-40C.
Interest Rate: The interest rate for the 2009 calendar year is 5 percent. Click here for more information. You can also see previous year interest rates in Publication 58.
Research Credits: Calculating the credit for increasing research activities in Utah and for machinery and equipment used to further research has changed. Also, you may now use these credits in the year you paid the costs instead of the year after.