New York Legislature Cuts Self-Funding Spinal Cord Injury Program

Very sad... Probably just the beginning of these types of headlines with the dire financial straits of the states around the country.  For a high quadriplegic barely hanging on to life, these headlines have to be devastating...

"In 1998, with the help of friends and influential people like Christopher Reeve, Richter got the state to create the Spinal Cord Injury Research Board, which distributes research grants to facilities all across the state. To fund it, the state placed a surcharge on fines for moving traffic violation.

"It’s a self-sustaining program,” Richter explained. “It was an idea I had to try to raise money, and most spinal cord injuries result from automobile and motorcycle accidents."

Representatives of the budget office say the board is an unfortunate casualty of the state's dire financial situation. Facing a deficit of as much as $9.2 billion the administration says it needs to keep money from the surcharges in the general fund. The budget would cut $6.7 million scheduled to go to the board and instead keep it in the general fund."

...

"Now, though, the program that Richter created -- the Spinal Cord Injury Research Board -- is slated to fall victim to the state's fiscal crisis. The board is scheduled to be phased out under Gov. David Paterson's 2010-2011 budget proposals. Supporters of the program say losing it will do immeasurable damage, not only to the field of spinal cord injury research but to the state's overall economy as well."

State Budget Puts Spinal Cord Injury Research in Jeopardy (Gotham Gazette, Mar 11, 2010)