Dear Policy Watchers,
As we move into the final months and weeks of the 116th Congress’s first session, it is clear this is not “business as usual” in
Washington. Not only will Congress fail to pass critical appropriations (funding) bills on time, but lawmakers will pause much of their work to focus on investigative hearings on whether President Trump
committed an impeachable offense when he allegedly put
our national security at risk by having an inappropriate conversation with the President of Ukraine.
Dozens of members – many of whom are in leadership positions serve on the House committees
that are now charged with investigating whether to have a vote on impeachment. This surely means the House will have a hard time finding time to work on other legislation. If House members ultimately vote to impeach President Trump, the matter would go to
the Senate where there would have to be a two-thirds majority vote to ultimately convict and remove President Trump.
It is important to understand why the Constitution provides for impeachment and removal of a president. For more information
on impeachment I’d recommend this short Vox article
that gives a very good summary of the issues. Click here
if you want more information.
Now on to other news...
RSVP for the FEMA Emergency Preparedness Webinar hosted by NACDD next Thursday.
September is Emergency Preparedness Month. In just a few days, Linda Mastandrea, the Director of
FEMA’s Office of Disability Integration and Coordination, will be
headlining a webinar specifically for DD Council members, staff, self-advocates and supporters next Thursday, October 3rd at 3pm EST. This is an incredible opportunity to hear the inside workings of how FEMA is trying to improve access for people
with disabilities before, during, and after disasters. Look out for an “Adobe Connect” Outlook meeting invitation to this special webinar following this email!
Disability Coalitions Host Emergency Preparedness Briefing on Capitol Hill.
As co-chair of the CCD Taskforce on Emergency Management, NACDD joined several coalitions in organizing a
briefing on Capitol Hill to educate members
of Congress and their staff about the needs of people with disabilities before, during and after disaster. Several self-advocates spoke on their personal experience living through Hurricanes Harvey and Michael. NCD Attorney Advisor Amy Nicholas discussed NCD's
report Preserving Our Freedom: Ending Institutionalization of People with Disabilities During and After Disasters.
We also advocated for the passage of the READDI For Disaster Act and Disaster Medicaid Relief Act. Please remember to take steps to be prepared for emergencies. Check out
Ready.gov/disability
for more information and resources on emergency preparedness.
Meanwhile, the Appropriations Show Must Go On.
On Thursday the Senate approved
HR 4378the Senate approved HR 4378,
the continuing resolution that will prevent a government shutdown until at least November 21st of this year. The bill now goes to President Trump’s desk to be signed, and it appears to have a veto-proof majority if for some reason the President
surprises everyone by pulling his support. It’s worth disclaiming that nothing is ever certain in this town, but, barring a huge surprise, it does look like Congress has bought themselves a few months of breathing room to settle these budget
debates. As always, you can expect to hear from NACDD CEO Donna Meltzer if any new developments in the ongoing budget saga look to impact council funding.
Ohio DD Council Visits Capitol Hill. This week, Ohio advocates from the Ohio
Developmental Disability Council and Ohio Centers for Independent Living stormed Capitol Hill to educate Ohio’s members of Congress on the important work of the DD Council, initiatives to increase employment for people with developmental disabilities, and
other important issues. Paul Jarvis, Liaison Officer for the Ohio DD Council, provided an excellent training session for participants that featured Roger Severino,
Director of the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Director Severino spoke about the
important work
his department is doing to end discrimination against people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are sometimes excluded or given less priority on state organ transplant lists. “No one should be blocked from access to an organ transplant because
of stereotypes about persons with disabilities. It is also against the law,” he said. Check out the
Ohio DD Council’s Facebook
page to see some great photos of their visit!
National Council on Disabilities (NCD) Releases Organ Transplant Discrimination Report.
NCD released the first of five reports in a bioethics and disability series and calls on the government to issue federal guidance on organ transplant discrimination. The report,
Organ Transplant Discrimination Against People with Disabilities,
shows that even though the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act prohibit discrimination in organ transplant decisions, disability-related policies vary greatly across organ transplant centers and across categories of disability. Many centers may have a current or
past policy that treats HIV or AIDS, psychiatric disabilities, or intellectual and developmental disabilities as relative or absolute contraindications to transplant. Only 9 states have laws prohibiting this discrimination. You can read the report
here.
But because you want to do more, PLEASE share the NCD report on social media.
Click here to share the report on Facebook
or here to share the report on Twitter.
Another Try for Anti-Bullying Bill.
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) plans to re-introduce
the Safe Schools Improvement Act in the Senate, and NACDD
promptly sent an official endorsement. Senator
Bob Casey (D-PA) plans to re-introduce the
Safe Schools Improvement Act in the Senate, and NACDD promptly
sent an official endorsement. Spurred by data on bullying regularly collected by
GLSEN (the “Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network”), the legislation would require school
districts to adopt codes of conduct specifically prohibiting bullying and harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and religion. Students with disabilities who also members of other marginalized
groups often face multiple oppressions and discrimination that shape the lived experiences.
Currently only 21 states plus DC have all of these requirements in place. We believe Senator Casey has been pushing for versions of this bill for several congresses now, and this time he is joined by Representative
Linda Sanchez (D-CA) who introduced the bill in the House this spring. With all of the talk about school
safety is improved when policies like SSIA are in place and students are able to live their fullest lives. As Congress discusses guns in schools, we want to push them to focus more on proven school safety policies, like SSIA.
Increase in Number of Children with I/DD… Maybe.
The CDC released a new data set in the journal
Pediatrics that measured the number of children diagnosed with I/DD, and the numbers show an increase in prevalence over the past decade. However, don’t discount the
article’s
conclusion:
“Changes by demographic and socioeconomic subgroups may be related to improvements in awareness and access to health care.”
Awareness-building matters! And while data sets like this one are often too general to build specific policy arguments around, they’re great
foundation-setting points for policy arguments across the board.
Save the Date!
Defending Our Rights in Federal Courts Conference Call on October 7. NACDD’s upcoming Quarterly Policy Call on Monday, October 7th
at 2:00 pm EST. Friend of NACDD Alison Barkoff
will be stopping by to talk about a pair of amicus briefs that NACDD has joined in the past year regarding the
ACA and
immigration. All are welcome
to join and listen. The call-in number is 800-832-0736 and passcode is 6261788.
Finally, as many of us will celebrate the Jewish New Year, on Rosh Hashanah I wish you all peace, happiness, good luck, blessings and success
in the coming year. L’shanah Tovah! Happy Rosh Hashanah!
Sincerely,
Erin Prangley
Director, Policy
National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
Questions? Comments? Concerns? You can always reach me at
xxxxxx@nacdd.org.