Dear DD Council Network:
Now that we are officially in 2016, the election season is in full swing. Here in Washington, DC we feel it strongly and know that this election cycle will dominate policy and legislative work over the next 10 months. Those of you in Iowa
and New Hampshire certainly feel it as the caucuses are upon us and campaign events will dominate the scene in your states over the next 4-6 weeks or so.
I am writing to remind everyone that NACDD as a national non-profit, non-partisan organization does not take a stand on any candidate. However, what we are doing, is working with other national disability organizations including the Disability
Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), American Association of Persons with Disabilities (AAPD), Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and RespectAbility as well as some of the state components of these national
groups, to bring you, our members, the best information possible for you to use and share with your constituents. Great discussions and resources are happening daily and NACDD will be doing more in this new year to share links, use social media to share information,
and at times contact you one-on-one to be sure you are plugged in and provided the best information on what candidates are saying on disability issues. We want to share what we know about accessibility issues at campaign events, and how and when you can get
involved. For example, getting folks with disabilities out to caucus events or campaign events in your cities and towns is critical! We know that the Iowa DD Council and the whole Iowa coalition on voting for people with disabilities is doing tremendous work
in this regard. Thanks Iowa for being a role model!
Did you know that former AIDD Commissioner Patricia Morrissey is highly engaged in getting disability into the forefront of the campaigns? See her blog here! Some of you may know that Pat has been very vocal on pushing for passage of the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) but she is currently very focused on getting out the disability vote. Check out her blog here
http://wecandothisifwetry.blogspot.com/.
RespectAbility, also a non-profit, non-partisan disability organization, publishes an ongoing report with all of the latest on each presidential campaign and it is a great place to pull down what’s new and hot. For example, last night Jeb
Bush released a new paid TV commercial about his support for people with disabilities that he made in response to Donald Trump’s mocking of a man with Cerebral Palsy. See Jeb Bush’s commercial here
http://therespectabilityreport.org/2016/01/14/candidates-focusing-on-disability-issues-key-voting-block/. Also on the report are updates on disability platforms from Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and others.
I had the honor of attending a meeting here in Washington, DC last month with two individuals with disabilities (one with I/DD and one with a physical disability) where we met with several of the Republican presidential hopefuls and together
we interviewed them on their stand on issues important to people with disabilities such as employment, housing, transportation, protection of Medicaid and Social Security and more. My personal observation is that more of the candidates are seeing people with
disabilities as voters and they tell us that they are improving their use of people first language and their understanding of the needs and concerns of people with disabilities and their families. I encourage you to link to the RespectAbility report and to
read it regularly. They have teams of people with all kinds of disabilities out in the caucus states and are working hard to raise awareness about disability on the campaign trail.
http://therespectabilityreport.org/about-us/.
Need more good resources? See what the Iowa DD Council has on its website
http://www.idaction.org/vote/ and to know more about barriers to accessible voting see the ACLU’s 2015 report
https://www.aclu.org/report/access-denied-barriers-online-voter-registration-citizens-disabilities.
I hope that this information is interesting and helpful to you and your DD Council work. Over time we will be sharing more via social media and emails to keep you informed. Let us know what you think and what other resources you need.
Happy Friday everyone!
Donna
Donna A. Meltzer, CEO
National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
1825 K Street, NW Suite 600
Washington, DC 20006
202-506-5813 extension 103
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