THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507240273
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Complaining that state government is turning its back on the elderly, poor and mentally disabled, advocates for these groups have formed a new political action committee.
The Human Services Association Political Action Committee, a Richmond-based bipartisan PAC with about 1,000 members, formed earlier this year.
Last week, it released a two-page questionnaire it wants every General Assembly candidate to answer before November's election.
Through the questionnaire, candidates will be asked about their positions on Gov. George F. Allen's 1995 budget proposal, which would have cut funding for such programs as home-delivered meals for the elderly and community mental health services.
They will also be quizzed about various other policy and budget questions, such as whether the Department of Aging should be merged with the state Medicaid agency. (Advocates for the elderly oppose the move.)
Howard Cullum, the group's chairman and founder, said the PAC would try to hold politicians accountable for their stands on social programs.
``What we see happening is that people are throwing out all sorts of things and have no idea what they're talking about,'' Cullum said. ``We want the people running for office to bite the bullet and say where they stand on these issues.''
Cullum, a former state secretary of health and human resources, organized the PAC because existing nonprofit groups for the poor, elderly and mentally disabled can't work actively in election campaigns.
``Groups like AARP and the Mental Health Alliance are prohibited by law from getting down and helping candidates to win,'' he explained. PACs aren't so restricted.
Cullum said the Human Services Association PAC differs from many other PACs in that it will not contribute money to any political candidate.
Instead, it will endorse candidates and distribute information through a 200,000-name mailing list.
The PAC represents people who aren't heard by state legislators, Cullum said.
Their issues - Alzheimer's Disease, child behavioral problems - are often politically invisible. ``But if you scratch around, you find most families know someone like that or are involved with someone like that.''
The PAC has raised $23,000 so far, most of it from small donations sent in by family members of the disabled or aged.
``I've had $1 bills, $5 bills. This is grassroots America,'' Cullum said.
The PAC will use the the money to send brochures to interested people and to continue sending information through its mailing list.
Cullum heads a seven-person board, which he expects will expand in the coming months. Members include Mary Ellen Cox, of Richmond, a long-time advocate for the elderly; Bob Armstrong of Norfolk, a mental health advocate; and King E. Davis of Richmond, former state mental health commissioner. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
FOR DETAILS
For an informational brochure about the Human Services
Association Political Action Committee, call 1-800-944-8727. No dues
are required to join.
by CNB