BC Budget 2018

Selfadvocatenet.com will be the place for coverage of this year B.C. Budget

the B.C. NDP and the greens Budget

 

 

 

 

 

This just in BC Govt website saying about BC Budget

 

Budget 2018 puts people first, makes life more affordable for British Columbians

Victoria Tuesday, February 20, 2018 1:40 PM

 

Budget 2018 carves a new path to shared prosperity for everyone in the province with a made-in-B.C. child-care plan, a comprehensive housing plan and record levels of capital investment in every corner of the province, Finance Minister Carole James announced today.

“Budgets are not only about the bottom line, they should be about people. That’s why British Columbians are at the centre of every choice we have made in Budget 2018,” said James. “These include historic investments in child care and affordable housing that will be felt for generations.”

Over three years, an investment of more than $1 billion will set the province on the path to a universal child-care plan that will make child care affordable for parents and caregivers, create more than 22,000 child-care spaces throughout the province and ensure those spaces meet rigorous quality and safety standards.

Budget 2018 also lays out a comprehensive housing plan that introduces new taxation measures to tackle foreign and domestic speculation, to close loopholes and crack down on tax fraud, and to stabilize housing prices. It invests more than $1.6 billion over three years to build and maintain affordable rental housing, help finance student housing, increase rental assistance for low-income seniors and working families, and provide supportive housing for at-risk British Columbians.

“Budget 2018 balances the needs and priorities of British Columbians with the fiscal prudence that marks B.C. as an economic leader in Canada,” said James. “Our province needs bold action, and Budget 2018 delivers by investing in choices that make life more affordable, improving the services we all count on, and supporting a strong, sustainable economy for all British Columbians.”

Making Life More Affordable

Building on the Province’s progress to date, Budget 2018 takes action to make life more affordable by:

• Introducing a new affordable child-care benefit that will reduce child-care costs by up to $1,250 per month for every child and support 86,000 B.C. families per year by 2020-21.
• Providing up to $350 per month directly to licenced child-care providers to reduce fees for an estimated 50,000 families per year by 2020-21.
• Curbing speculation in B.C.’s housing market and helping to build 114,000 affordable rental, non-profit, co-op and owner-purchase housing units through partnerships.
• Eliminating Medical Services Plan (MSP) premiums by Jan. 1, 2020, saving individuals up to $900 a year, and families up to $1,800 a year.
• Making ferries more affordable by freezing fares on all major BC Ferries routes, reducing fares on non-major routes and fully restoring the Monday to Thursday seniors passenger fare discount.
• Improving B.C.’s Fair PharmaCare program to eliminate deductibles for families with annual net incomes below $30,000, starting Jan. 1, 2019. Approximately 240,000 families will receive expanded coverage.
• Reinstating free bus passes with the flexibility to support other transportation needs will help over 100,000 people receiving disability assistance to better connect them with their communities and the services they rely on.

Delivering the Services People Count On

British Columbians deserve services they can depend on. That’s why Budget 2018 invests in priority services, including:

• Significant investments in health care, with funding of $548 million over three years to improve care for seniors and $150 million to help connect those who do not have a family doctor with team-based primary care.
• Hiring more teachers, bringing the total to over 3,700 new hires around the province to support students and meet the need for qualified teachers in B.C.
• Making a historic investment of $50 million this fiscal year to support the revitalization and preservation of Indigenous languages in B.C.
• Dedicating $18 million to services that provide outreach and counselling support for women and children affected by violence.
• Improving access to justice through increased funding for legal aid, family law services, and the hiring of more sheriffs and court staff to help reduce court delays.

Building a Strong, Sustainable Economy

Budget 2018 invests in a strong, sustainable economy through B.C.’s greatest resource – its people, by:

• Supporting communities hit the hardest by the 2017 wildfire season and investing in wildfire preparedness to protect people, communities and wildlife.
• Increasing funding for B.C.’s agrifood sector to support enhanced Buy BC, Grow BC and Feed BC initiatives to drive consumer demand and get B.C.’s goods to overseas markets.
• Confirming the removal of fees for Adult Basic Education and English Language Learning to give people opportunities to grow and succeed.
• Partnering with industry, the federal government and First Nations communities to support Indigenous skills training programs with $30 million over three years.
• Increasing grants administered through the BC Arts Council and Creative BC, which support B.C.’s vibrant communities and creative economy.
• Expanding B.C.’s tuition waiver program and increasing financial support for former youth in care while they attend post-secondary school or training programs.

Budget 2018 commitments are being funded by improved revenue forecasts over the fiscal plan period, as well as new revenue sources, including:

• A speculation tax, and increases in the foreign buyers’ tax, to address housing affordability in B.C. by reducing foreign demand, and curbing speculation in the residential property market.
• An employer health tax to allow for the full elimination of MSP premiums.

“For too long, British Columbians have not been able to get the services that they need or afford to live in the communities in which they work or grew up in,” James said. “We are taking bold action to change that with Budget 2018 – a budget that works for everyone in B.C.”

Learn More:

For more details on Budget 2018, please visit: www.bcbudget.ca

For information on government services, programs and for general information, please see: www.gov.bc.ca

Two backgrounders follow.

 

 

so highlights in 2018 budget  benefit people with disabilities

BC Budget: Welcome focus on affordability, but momentum stalls on disability supports

inclusion bc details of what in it here what detailed

For Immediate Release:

Victoria, February 21, 2018 – BC’s 2018/19 budget included important new initiatives to make British Columbia more affordable, but there was also a disappointing halt in 2017’s momentum towards better lives and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities, many of whom live in dire poverty.

“We understand that 15 years of underfunding can’t be reversed overnight, and we applaud the investments in housing and child care,” said Inclusion BC Executive Director Faith Bodnar. “But today’s budget had very little good news for British Columbians with intellectual disabilities, children with special needs and their families.”

BC’s new government announced key changes that were widely welcomed after taking office in 2017, including a $100/month increase in Persons with Disabilities (PWD) benefit rates, which had been frozen for a decade. A new $52 transportation supplement for PWD recipients, announced last fall, was also referenced in today’s budget.

But Inclusion BC is disappointed that a key pillar of the 2018 provincial budget, housing affordability, ignored the dire straits facing 100,000 British Columbians with disabilities who face monumental challenges trying to find safe housing with the maximum $375 housing allowance included in PWD monthly benefits.

“We applaud the Finance Minister’s initial emphasis on addressing housing affordability for the most vulnerable British Columbians,” Bodnar said. “But the plight of those trying to survive on PWD benefits seems to have been forgotten and these are undoubtedly some of our most vulnerable citizens.”

In a recommendation endorsed by the Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, Inclusion BC and other disability advocates urged the BC government to introduce portable rental subsidies, similar to the seniors SAFER program, to help PWD recipients access safe, affordable housing.

“We have been putting this forward as good fiscal policy since 2012 and it’s disappointing to see this advice was ignored in today’s budget,” Bodnar added. “We see nothing else in the budget that will address the dangerous housing affordability gap for people with disabilities.”

People with disabilities belong in our province and have an equal right to income security. What is needed is a plan to raise PWD rates to a level that provides for a decent and respectful quality of life for people with disabilities, and to provide future security by indexing rates to inflation.

Bodnar also expressed grave concern about the budget for Community Living BC, where very modest annual increases continue to lag projected caseload growth of 5-6 percent annually.

“CLBC’s budget shows further declines in spending per individual for 2018-21, which is unrealistic in a context of inflation and rising costs of serving an aging population,” Bodnar said. “We have called for a collaborative process to review CLBC’s operations and mandate, and this budget adds heightened urgency to this call.”

For many years, CLBC has responded to growing caseload pressures by seeking efficiencies to reduce costs per client.

“This approach has been unsustainable for many years,” Bodnar said. “Families and community agencies that support people with intellectual disabilities across BC have struggled with underfunding for a long time. They continue to wait too long for services and face increasingly limited support options.”

BC Budget 2018 included several modest initiatives that offer welcome relief for people with disabilities and their families. Inclusion BC applauded the commitment to end waitlists for the Supported Child Development and Aboriginal Supported Child Development Programs, which fund supports that allow children with special needs to access childcare.

“Addressing these waitlists is a very welcome step, as it will remove a significant added barrier facing families of children with special needs,” Bodnar said.