Dear DD Councils and Policy Committee,
Happy Friday everyone! In addition to all the great work the DD Councils did to stop the attach on the HCBS rule in the House this week, there was a lot going on. Here’s an update
on what’s going on at NACDD that I thought you’d be interested in. Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.
NACDD Opposed House Budget Resolution.
On Thursday, the House passed a FY2018 budget resolution by
a
219-206 vote. A total of 18 Republicans voted against the resolution, along with all the Democrats. The House budget sets federal spending at $4.2 trillion and calls for cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and other programs that set up a
tax cut bill to progress through the Senate without being subject to a filibuster.
You can read NACDD’s position opposing the House Budget legislation
here .
This non-binding House resolution
instructs House committees to reduce Medicaid spending by $834 billion over 10 years and Medicare by $473 billion over 10 years and cut other non-discretionary programs.
It adopts the “repeal and replace” approach to the Affordable Care Act, which would cause 23 million people to lose coverage within ten years, according to the Congressional
Budget Office, and make coverage worse or less affordable for millions more. It radically restructures Medicaid and ends Medicaid expansion. Medicare cuts are accomplished by shifting more health care costs to beneficiaries.
The justification for these changes is that the House majority sees spending on Medicaid and Medicare as “unsustainable.” The House majority is pretty clear that these cuts are necessary to make way for the massive tax cuts
that will be packaged and put up for votes in the next few weeks.
The Senate Budget Committee approved its version of the fiscal 2018 budget resolution on Thursday, on a party-line 12-11 vote. The Senate budget also assumes a massive
$1.5 trillion tax cut, but adds to the deficit instead of following the House plan’s instructions to cut existing federal spending. You can read more about the differences between the House and Senate plans
here. We’ll have to watch the conference committee very closely to see whether the House, Senate, or some other approach prevails.
NACDD believes the budget should be passed in a bipartisan way through regular order. The House legislation is not bipartisan and will devastate Medicaid and Medicare,
and a lot of other programs DD community relies on. People with disabilities need a bipartisan budget that protects Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security and provides commensurate increases for both defense and nondefense spending.
NACDD Opposes ADA and Education Reform Act.
On October 2, NACDD signed on to a coalition letter opposing ADA and Education Reform Act. Persons with disabilities have long been marginalized and discriminated against by society and the ADA provided human and civil rights for our community. H.R. 620 significantly
changes civil rights laws because for the first time in history, a protected class would have to provide notification of its intent to exercise their civil rights. No other protected class has to do this for public accommodations. Introduced by Rep. Poe (TX),
the ADA and Education Reform Act would make it harder to enforce rights under Title III of the ADA to access public accommodations and integration in mainstream society by: 1) removing the incentive for businesses to comply with the ADA; 2) requiring a person
with the disability to file a written notice specifying the exact ADA provisions that are being violated; 3) giving the business owner 60 days to acknowledge the notice and 120 additional days to begin to fix the violation; a total of 180 days (6 months!)
to deny access. Read our coalition letter
here and a good article on the issue
here.
Governor Brown signs legislation to improve Employment First
Governor Brown for signed legislation into law that will require the Employment Development Department to share data with the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) regarding the status of persons with developmental
disabilities accessing competitive integrated employment (CIE). Sponsored by the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, the new data collection will help understand and assess the progress towards people with developmental disabilities getting real work
for real pay. You can read the press release
here.
Congratulations SCDD! Please continue to send me information on state legislation that impacts the DD community. There’s a lot of good stuff going on in the states!
Upcoming Events and New Resources
·
Conference Call on Federal Agency Response to Hurricane Maria.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (DHS CRCL) is hosting a national conference call with community members in the U.S. mainland, Puerto
Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands affected by Hurricane Maria. Senior leadership from several federal agencies will address the federal government’s response and hear the communities’ concerns. Space is limited on the call so join early!
o
Date: October 10, 2017
o
Time: 10:30 AM EDT
o
Call in information: DDI number: 888-946-8384 (if calling from Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands use this number 1-517-308-9294) / Guest Conference Pin: 1135706
·
ADA National Network Webinar: How Functional Assessment Service Teams (FAST) are being implemented in 3 states.
A Functional Assessment Service Team (FAST) can help people with disabilities get what they need to safely stay in a community shelter and to assist them to return home as soon as possible.
The webinar will provide background as to what is FAST, why it might work in your community or state; and the future of FAST across the nation. California, Washington and Wisconsin will their share their experiences from their FAST journey.
o
Date: October 12th, 2017
o
Time: 2.30pm EDT
o
Registration: Free on-line at
http://www.adapresentations.org/registration.php
Registration closes at midnight, October 11th, 2017.
·
New Report!
“Adults of Color with Disabilities: Bottom Rung of the Economic Ladder.” Released by the
National Disability Institute, this report explores the prevalence of disability by race, the changing rate of disability by age and race and the impact of race and disability on educational
attainment, employment, banking status, health insurance, medical debt and food insecurity. You can download the report
here.
Erin Prangley
Director, Public Policy
National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities
1825 K Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20006
202.506.5813 Ext. 104 (Phone)
202.506.5846 (Fax)