Legislature Poised To Make Things Worse In Texas

By now, I imagine all of you know who the picture above is -- the shooter who killed six people in Arizona and wounded more than a dozen others.   Whether or not he did it for political reasons, it has become pretty obvious that he is mentally ill.   If he had received the proper mental health care, he might not have become the mass killer that he turned out to be.

I'm not trying to single Arizona out for its failure to provide the necessary health care.   The fact is if he lived in Texas, it is doubtful that he would have received the necessary care.   That is because Texas ranks 49th out of all the states in the amount it spends per person for mental health care.   And in a state that has 1.5 million people with severe mental health disorders, that is just a tragedy (or probably a lot of tragedies) waiting to happen.

And what is the Texas legislature going to do about that?   They are going to cut at least another $134 million from health care funds.   The state's Republican leadership got elected promising not to raise taxes in the state -- even though there is a $27 billion budget shortfall.   That means all agencies are going to see severe cuts, regardless of how much their vital services are needed.

This not only means that far too many of the mentally ill will not get the treatment they need (the Center for Public Policy predicts 21.6% less people will get needed care), but it also puts the general population in greater danger from the small percentage of the mentally ill that may harm another person.   The truth is that most of the mentally ill are not dangerous to others, but the ones that are may well fall into that 21.6% that doesn't get help.

As little as Texas funds for mental health care, they should be increasing funds instead of cutting them.   But in this state politics is more important than helping people by delivering necessary services.