Photo Credit:  Pennsylvania Rep. Jessica Benham, D-South Side, speaks with a business owner after a Pennsylvania House Democratic Policy Committee hearing on public safety along East Carson Street on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023. (Megan Guza/Post-Gazette)

While legislative leaders and Gov. Josh Shapiro continue to haggle over the nearly four-month-late state budget, rank-and-file members of the General Assembly have had time to do something that happens far too little in Harrisburg: actually make laws.

One long-delayed reform is finally being considered (a committee vote scheduled for Wednesday was unfortunately postponed): indexing wages to inflation for direct support professionals (DSPs) who care for Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A). We urge the House Human Services Committee to approve the bill, and the full legislature to pass it into law.

Recent success in reducing the number of people on the commonwealth’s wait-list for ID/A services has demonstrated what should have been obvious: paying DSPs higher wages will result in more people taking DSP jobs, allowing more people to be served. Reforms initiated by Mr. Shapiro began the process of correcting long-term underfunding of ID/A services, resulting in a one-third reduction of the emergency waiting list. That’s 2,000 more people with profoundly disabling conditions getting professional help with everything from personal hygiene to feeding themselves.

The overall, non-emergency wait-list shrunk by less — from 13,000 to 12,400 — but this progress is still worth celebrating. The people in the state’s ID/A system often require 24/7 care, which families struggle to provide within the constraints of their own lives. Family caregivers sometimes have to quit their jobs and risk financial disaster — including losing the very shelter where they care for a loved one with ID/A — when DSPs are not available to supplement their care.

Pennsylvania’s Office of Developmental Programs reimburses care provider agencies for DSP services at a certain hourly rate; agencies typically pay a few dollars more per hour than the reimbursement rate, covering the difference themselves. If this sounds similar to the state’s broader home care crisis, that’s exactly right: Pennsylvania has underfunded its human services system across sectors for a very long time.

In fact, while the commonwealth’s comparatively low home care rate is a little under $21 an hour, its DSP rate is only about $16.

In the ID/A system, which serves some of the most vulnerable Pennsylvanians of all, a state board assesses DSP rates every three years. But these rate reviews consistently come in lower than inflation, plus they only kick in during the following year, which means they’re already out of date when they come into force. Mr. Shapiro’s 2023 spot review led to higher rates in 2024 and a reduction in the wait list in 2025 — but more can be done.

Specifically, the state can index DSP reimbursement rates to inflation, helping to ensure they don’t fall behind once again. House Bill 1939, introduced by State Reps. Jessica Benham (D-South Side) and Jason Ortitay (R-Cecil) and co-sponsored by many Pittsburgh-area legislators from both parties, would do just this.

For those (rightly) concerned about the commonwealth’s structural deficit, automatic rate increases under HB 1939 would still have to be confirmed in appropriations approved by the legislature each year. Providers would also be required to increase DSP wages commensurate with the increase in reimbursements, ensuring these organizations don’t just pocket the difference. These rates would also still be subject to every-three-year administrative reviews.

But of all the programs in which to pinch pennies, the state’s ID/A system should be among the last. These funds, and above all the compassionate workers whose labor they pay for, represent the community’s moral obligation to care for those who cannot care for themselves. Passing HB1939 would help ensure Pennsylvania is ready to fulfill this obligation for many years to come.