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Advocates for deaf protest budget cuts | Rhode Island news | Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal
The Rhode Island Association for the Deaf has complained that Governor Carcieri has created a hardship for deaf citizens by merging four commissions, including the Commission of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
The organization also charged that the position of American Sign Language interpreter has been left vacant for nearly two months, causing a backlog of requests for interpreters for meetings, appointments and other events.
But Carcieri’s press secretary, Jeff Neal, said it wasn’t the governor’s fault.
“That was not a proposal that was made by Governor Carcieri,” Neal said of the merger. “The governor’s proposals were included in his budget proposals, which he sent in [to the General Assembly] the third week of January. The governor had nothing to do with this. The governor actually vetoed the budget that included this provision, and the General Assembly chose to override his veto.”
Neal said that Carcieri was not making a judgment on merging the commissions. “He’s simply saying this was not a proposal he made,” Neal said.
As for the interpreter position, Neal said that person would be a state employee, and it was not a job to which the governor could appoint a candidate.
“It would be more effective to reach out to the governor’s office to voice concerns and see if a solution can be determined than it is to send out a press release with information that has never been provided to the governor to complain that the governor has not acted on that information,” Neal said.
Bruce Bucci, the outgoing president of the Association for the Deaf, said last night he was surprised to hear that the governor was not behind the merger and did not control the vacant position.
As members of the association arrived at the Rhode Island School for the Deaf for the organization’s 15th biennial convention, Bucci said the group was gathering as many signatures as possible on petitions asking that their grievances be addressed. He said the organization would send the petitions to the General Assembly instead of the governor.
Bucci said he expected up to 150 people to attend the convention.
He said the American Sign Language interpreter is a specialist who reaches out to the interpreter community, finding interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Christopher Haas, president of the Rhode Island Association of Interpreters for the Deaf, said last night that leaving the referral specialist job unfilled had created a hardship for his own organization.
Bucci said that a typical problem was one faced by his own grandmother, who is deaf and needed an appointment with a heart specialist.
He said the family requested an interpreter for her appointment but has been waiting a month without action.
The Rhode Island Association for the Deaf has complained that Governor Carcieri has created a hardship for deaf citizens by merging four commissions, including the Commission of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
The organization also charged that the position of American Sign Language interpreter has been left vacant for nearly two months, causing a backlog of requests for interpreters for meetings, appointments and other events.
But Carcieri’s press secretary, Jeff Neal, said it wasn’t the governor’s fault.
“That was not a proposal that was made by Governor Carcieri,” Neal said of the merger. “The governor’s proposals were included in his budget proposals, which he sent in [to the General Assembly] the third week of January. The governor had nothing to do with this. The governor actually vetoed the budget that included this provision, and the General Assembly chose to override his veto.”
Neal said that Carcieri was not making a judgment on merging the commissions. “He’s simply saying this was not a proposal he made,” Neal said.
As for the interpreter position, Neal said that person would be a state employee, and it was not a job to which the governor could appoint a candidate.
“It would be more effective to reach out to the governor’s office to voice concerns and see if a solution can be determined than it is to send out a press release with information that has never been provided to the governor to complain that the governor has not acted on that information,” Neal said.
Bruce Bucci, the outgoing president of the Association for the Deaf, said last night he was surprised to hear that the governor was not behind the merger and did not control the vacant position.
As members of the association arrived at the Rhode Island School for the Deaf for the organization’s 15th biennial convention, Bucci said the group was gathering as many signatures as possible on petitions asking that their grievances be addressed. He said the organization would send the petitions to the General Assembly instead of the governor.
Bucci said he expected up to 150 people to attend the convention.
He said the American Sign Language interpreter is a specialist who reaches out to the interpreter community, finding interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Christopher Haas, president of the Rhode Island Association of Interpreters for the Deaf, said last night that leaving the referral specialist job unfilled had created a hardship for his own organization.
Bucci said that a typical problem was one faced by his own grandmother, who is deaf and needed an appointment with a heart specialist.
He said the family requested an interpreter for her appointment but has been waiting a month without action.