Bellefontaine Likely Saved By Budget Negotiators

It looks as though residents of the Bellfontaine Habilitation Center in St. Louis County will be able to continue to call the facilty home. Legislative budget negotiators have rejected Governor Matt Blunt’s proposal to shut down the state-run mental health center and are proposing they continue to fund it. The shut down had been criticized by friends and relatives of the patients. They claimed the patients would be forced into homes that might not have had the best interests of the mentally retarded and physically disabled residents at heart. The thirteen budget bills will return to the House and Senate next week for their approval. A budget must be in place by next Friday.