Advocates for the disabled were handing out information to legislators as they came to the Capitol on Tuesday. The advocates are seeking restoration of budget cuts that have produced a waiting list for services. Fifty-eight Kansans have died while on the waiting list, they said. The group had planted crosses to represent those who had died.

Zach Davis of Topeka, an advocate for Kansans with disabilities, dressed up as the Grim Reaper to illustrate the plight of those on a waiting list for services from the state. Advocates on Tuesday called for an end to budget cuts to social services, and they stationed themselves at the entrance of the Capitol parking garage to hand out leaflets to legislators.

Topeka ? Advocates for Kansans with disabilities on Tuesday stood at the entrance of the parking garage at the Capitol handing out information to legislators about budget cuts to social services.

The advocates, some dressed as the Grim Reaper, had set up white crosses to represent Kansans who they believe have died while on a waiting list for state services.

“We’re sending a message to legislators that people are in crisis,” said Greg Jones, an advocate from Parsons.

More than 1,800 people with physical disabilities are on a waiting list for home- and community-based services. The program is designed to help keep people out of more expensive nursing home care and provide a more independent quality of life.

The State Independent Living Council said 58 people have died while on the waiting list.

In addition, advocates said durable medical equipment providers are refusing to accept Medicaid for things such as wheelchairs, diapers and catheter bags, and nursing home admissions have dramatically increased over the past three months.

State tax revenue over the past year has taken a historic drop. Medicaid funding has been cut 10 percent.

Gov. Mark Parkinson has said the revenue problems have been made worse by tax breaks for the rich and businesses that were granted by the Legislature over the past 20 years — a contention denied by business groups that lobbied legislators for those tax breaks.

Legislators still are considering more tax cuts for businesses this session. Supporters say those breaks are needed to lure more businesses to Kansas, but opponents say the tax exemptions will continue to erode the tax base, making it more difficult to pay for needed services, such as those for Kansans with disabilities.

Shannon Jones, executive director of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Kansas, said people with disabilities want to remain in the community and work.

“Persons with disabilities are not asking for exemptions or special privilege. They want to be gainfully employed persons in the Kansas job market. They want to be paying taxes,” she said in a news release last week.