DENVER (AP) -- Advocates for people with mental illnesses are calling on Gov. Bill Ritter to spare them from budget cuts.
Lacey Berumen, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, says studies show cutting treatment and medication for people with mental illnesses will cost the state more money than it will save.
Supporters of mental health programs say they have collected more than a thousand petition signatures asking Ritter to spare the programs from cuts he's planning to announce next week.
Ritter plans to cut $384 million from the budget by Sept. 1 because tax collections have continued to fall off because of the recession.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKXRM