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Congress is expected to recess this week for August, so Disability Policy News will also take a recess and return on September 11th. Enjoy the rest of summer!
Budget and Appropriations
On June 3rd, President Biden signed The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (P.L. 118-5). The bi-partisan bill suspends the debt ceiling through January 2025 in exchange for spending caps, new work requirements for TANF and food stamp recipients, rescinding unspent pandemic aid, and other changes. The bill has no impact on Medicaid.
The bill established budget caps for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 and 2025 for both defense and non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending. For FY 2024, the bill caps top-line discretionary spending at $1.58 trillion or approximately 6.7 percent less than FY 2023. For FY 2024, defense spending would be limited to $886.3 billion, approximately 3 percent more than FY 2023, and NDD would be limited to $703.6 billion, approximately 9 percent or $70 billion less than FY 2023. There is also an incentive for Congress to act on all appropriations bills before January 1, 2024. If they do not, FY 2023 spending levels will be cut by an additional 1 percent until all bills are passed, this applies to both defense and non-defense spending.
The House of Representative’s Appropriations Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee are in the process of marking-up each of the 12 appropriations bills. The top line spending agreements (302bs) are in the Senate $1.59 billion which is the cap in the Fiscal Responsibility Act and in the House $1.471 trillion or $119 billion less than the spending caps outlined in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. In the Senate, for the Labor-Health-Human Services-Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) bill, the 302b allocation is $195,231 million. In the House, the LHHS 302b allocation is $147,096 million.
On July 14th, the House marked-up the LHHS bill in subcommittee. The Senate is expected to mark-up the LHHS bill in full committee this Thursday, July 27th.
Plain Language
On June 3rd, President Biden signed The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. This bi-partisan (Democrat and Republican supported) bill raised the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is the most amount of money that the federal government can spend, and this bill allows the federal government to spend more money. The Fiscal Responsibility Act put a limit on the amount of money the federal government can spend in 2024 and 2025. The House of Representatives House and Senate have begun to decide how much money to spend on programs next year. The House of Representatives is planning to spend less money than the Senate.
Action Steps
Call and educate your Members of Congress on the importance of funding for programs for people with disabilities. You can reach your Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Disability Community Celebrates Disability Pride Month and the 33rd Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Every July, the disability community comes together to celebrate Disability Pride Month, and the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26th! This month is filled with many events to celebrate the progress we have made, and also to discuss the work that still needs to be done.
In honor of the 33rd anniversary of the ADA, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted a roundtable with disability rights leaders to discuss transportation accessibility. The group discussed how transformative the ADA has been, and what steps need to be taken, specifically in the transportation space, to achieve equity for people with disabilities. Vice President Harris also discussed the work that the Biden-Harris Administration has done around expanding accessible transportation. The Administration has invested billions of dollars through the All Station Accessibility Program and the Airport Terminals Program.
Plain Language
July 26th is the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Earlier this month, Vice President Harris invited disability rights leaders to the White House to discuss the accessibility of transportation. President Biden and Vice President Harris have been committed to making different forms of transportation more accessible to people with disabilities. The White House will continue to work on this issue and make sure that people with disabilities have access to transportation.
Action Steps
Read this press announcement about the roundtable.
U.S. Election Assistance Commission Releases Their Report on the 2022 Election
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) in partnership with Rutgers University, has released the 2022 Disability and Voting Accessibility Survey. The survey takes a representative sample of voters with and without voting disabilities and compares their experiences at the polls. The study showed similar voting accessibility compared to the 2020 election, and greater accessibility than the 2012 elections. Some more key findings included: people with disabilities voted at a 3.6 percent lower rate than people without disabilities, about 1 in 7 voters with disabilities encountered difficulties at the polls, voting difficulties were most common among “people with vision and cognitive impairments,” and close to 60 percent of voters with disabilities voted early or by mail.
Plain Language
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission and Rutgers University released a study that looks at the accessibility issues people with disabilities had while voting in the 2022 election. Some of the results of the study included that people with disabilities voted at a 3.6 percent lower rate than people without disabilities, about 1 in 7 voters with disabilities encountered difficulties at the polls, voting difficulties were most common among “people with vision and cognitive impairments,” and close to 60 percent of voters with disabilities voted early or by mail.
Action Steps
Read the 2022 Disability and Voting Accessibility Survey.
House of Representatives and Senate Introduce the Senior Nutrition Task Force Act
On the July 18th, Senator Casey (D-PA), Senator Collins (R-ME), Representative Crockett (D-TX-30), and Representative Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1) introduced the bipartisan Senior Nutrition Task Force Act (S. 2361 / H.R. 4706) . The bill creates a federal interagency taskforce led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to identify ways to address food insecurity among older adults and people with disabilities. The taskforce will be required to produce a report on recommendations to foster coordination across federal nutrition programs and ensure that disadvantaged communities have access to food. The bills are currently in the House Agriculture Committee and the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee.
Plain Language
On the July 18th, Senator Casey (D-PA), Senator Collins (R-ME), Representative Crockett (D-TX-30), and Representative Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1) introduced the Senior Nutrition Task Force Act (S. 2361 / H.R. 4706). These bills will create a group that will look for ways to make sure that older adults and people with disabilities have access to healthy food.
Action Steps
Read the announcement from Representative Fitzpatrick. Call and educate your Members of Congress on the importance addressing food insecurity for older adults and people with disabilities. You can reach your Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Senate to Hold Markup on the Primary Care and Health Workforce Expansion Act
On July 26th, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will be holding a hearing to mark-up the Primary Care and Health Workforce Expansion Act (S. 2333). This bill will provide over $65 billion to community health centers over the course of five years to address health workforce shortage, expands opportunities for training for doctors, nurses, dentists, and mental health professionals, and more. You watch the hearing on Wednesday, July 26th at 10:30 am EST.
Plain Language
On July 26th, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will be talking about the Primary Care and Health Workforce Expansion Act (S. 2333). The bill will provide money to health centers and to many different programs to help train more doctors, nurses, dentists, and other professionals. You watch the hearing on Wednesday, July 26th at 10:30 am EST.
Action Steps
Read the bill text. Read the section by section. Watch the hearing at 10:30 am EST on July 26th.
Congress to Introduce the Raise the Wage Act on July 25th
On July 25th, Senator Sanders (I-VT), Representative Scott (D-VA-3), Speaker Jeffries (D-NY-8), Representative Jayapal (D-WA-7), and Representative Norcross (D-NJ-1) plan to introduce the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 (Here is the version from the 117th Congress: S.53 / H.R. 603). The bills will raise the federal minimum wage over the course of five years to $17 an hour. The bill also includes provisions to phase out the use of sub-minimum wage for people with disabilities. Currently, employers across the country can use 14(c) certificates to pay workers with disabilities less than the minimum wage. This bill will stop all 14(c) certificates and will ensure that people with disabilities are paid at or above the minimum wage.
Plain Language
On July 25th, Senator Sanders (I-VT), Representative Scott (D-VA-3), Speaker Jeffries (D-NY-8), Representative Jayapal (D-WA-7), and Representative Norcross (D-NJ-1) plan to introduce the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 (Here is the version from the 117th Congress: S.53 / H.R. 603). The bills will raise the minimum wage and stop employers from paying people with disabilities less than minimum wage. Current law allows certain employers to pay workers with disabilities below the minimum wage, so people with disabilities can have jobs and careers that pay a living wage.
Actions Steps
Watch the livestream of the press event on July 25th, at 3:30pm here.
Center for Disease Control Launches The Bridge Access Program
In the Fall of 2023, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be launching the Bridge Access Program. This program will provide free COVID-19 vaccinations to uninsured or underinsured individuals. The CDC estimates that 25-30 million adults in the U.S. without health insurance, and even more whose health insurance won’t cover COVID-19 vaccinations. This program will allow these adults to receive COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters at no cost for a limited time.
Plain Language
In the Fall of 2023, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be launching the Bridge Access Program. This program will provide free COVID-19 vaccinations to people without health insurance. The program will only be available for a limited time.
Action Steps
Read more about the Bridge Access Program.
Policy related “How To” materials can be found on our website here. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the resources!
Tuesdays with Liz: Did you know that Liz has a YouTube Channel?
'Tuesdays with Liz' is a weekly video series highlighting current issues in disability policy. It is hosted by Liz Weintraub, a long-time disability advocate, and produced by AUCD.
You can help spread her message by:
- Subscribing to the Tuesdays with Liz YouTube Channel!
- Liking videos on the channel
- Making comments on the channel
 
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For definitions of terms, please see AUCD's List of Policy Definitions
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