Perry's offices, home protested

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A group that advocates on behalf of people with disabilities on Monday protested near Gov. Rick Perry's Capitol office and at the home the state rents for the governor and his family.

The group, ADAPT , objects to deep cuts in social service spending to bridge a multibillion budget shortfall, statewide organizer Bob Kafka said.

"We're saying they should use the Rainy Day Fund ," Kafka said. "But the governor wants to act macho for his Tea Party supporters."

Kafka said that about 30 protesters huddled around the second-floor offices on the south side of the Capitol building where Perry and much of his staff work. Some two dozen others were at the rented mansion in Southwest Austin that costs the state $10,000 a month while the Governor's Mansion is being renovated.

KXAN could not immediately confirm Kafka's report that several people protesting near the rental property had been taken into custody.

Kafka argued that if the state could afford $120,000 a year in rent for the governor, it could afford to dip deeper into the $9 billion Rainy Day Fund to avoid deep social service cuts.

"For people with disabilities, this funding is they're lives," he said.

The governor's office did not comment on the protests.