There is understandable frustration with the gridlock at the State Capitol between the governor and legislative leaders. I applaud Rep. Rich Murray’s recent statements to the Twin Cities’ Star Tribune newspaper.

“We’re hurting a lot of people” during this government shutdown, he said. In the current state budget negotiations, both sides “need to put everything back on the table. There are just a lot of different things that we can do to bridge this gap.”

I’m glad to see Rep. Murray’s willingness to explore many options to resolve the current stalemate.

When reaching a final budget deal, however, we must be careful not to compound the shutdown’s pain. While cuts will be part of any final deal, we must protect those supports that help people with disabilities live in and contribute to their communities and keep families together. We must preserve those services that get the best value for our tax dollars and create better lives for people receiving these services. We also need to look at ways of raising new revenue, since existing sources of revenue will not meet current and future needs.

In the past decade, people with disabilities have already endured hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts, fee hikes and reductions in services. Let’s find a way out of the current impasse that doesn’t harm them further.

Jo Lowe

Albert Lea