AUCD’s Community Inclusion Team supports the University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) Network in partnership with the Administration for Community Living.
AUCD’s Maternal and Child Health Engagement supports the Autism CARES Programs, including LEND and DBP Programs.
AUCD’s Public Health Team works to create health promotion and public health efforts that include people with disabilities.
AUCD Emerging Leaders are a part of a community that includes trainees, early career professionals, self-advocates, and family members from AUCD member Centers and Programs.
AUCD's Disability Policy News (DPN) is a weekly newsletter highlighting federal policy issues affecting people with disabilities and their families. DPN features updates in plain language and action steps that people can take to educate policymakers. DPN is published every Friday.
In this edition:
The government shutdown ended on November 12 with the passage of a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through January 30. This past weekend, Senate Republicans made a deal with a group of Senate Democrats—passage of the CR in exchange for a Democrat-backed healthcare bill vote in December as well as protections for federal workers (including reversing more than 4,000 layoffs that occurred during the shutdown) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) assistance funded through September 2026. The Senate Democrats who voted for the package are Senators Cortez Masto (NV), Durbin (IL), Fetterman (PA), Hassan (NH), Kaine (VA), Rosen (NV), and Shaheen (NH). Senator King (I-ME) also voted for it. On November 12, the House voted 222-209 to pass the CR and President Trump signed the bill into law shortly after.
The full package includes three full-year spending bills—Agriculture-FDA, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, and Legislative Branch. Senate and House Democrats plan on addressing the expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, an extension of which is not in the CR.
The legislation the President signed brings back thousands of laid off federal workers, including the staff who were fired from the Department of Education in the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). These offices are responsible for making sure that students with disabilities receive the education and services they are guaranteed under IDEA, and that people with disabilities are protected from discrimination under the Rehabilitation Act, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Many Democrats in Congress wanted the bill to include an extension of ACA tax credits, so there is a lot of anger and division within the Congressional Democratic caucus. The promise from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to allow a December vote on a Democrat-led healthcare bill applies only to the Senate; House Republican leadership has made no such promise. There is some interest from House Republicans to work on an ACA subsidy extension compromise. Meanwhile, President Trump and other Republicans have been pushing an alternative healthcare proposal that some experts say could undermine the ACA marketplace as a whole: sending direct cash payments into special accounts for people to use on healthcare.
The government is open again after the shutdown. A shutdown means that government departments and agencies are not working. The government shut down because Congress did not pass a spending bill on time. This process is called "appropriations." Appropriations means money that is set aside by Congress for a particular use. The government shutdown lasted longer than any other government shutdown in U.S. history.
First, the Senate passed a continuing resolution (also called a CR), which is a funding bill that makes sure the government has enough money for a few more months. Then, the House voted to pass the CR. Finally, the President signed it into law. Senate Republicans made a deal with a group of some Senate Democrats, but most Democrats in Congress didn't like it. The deal included these parts:
The CR will fund the government through January 30. It includes some appropriations bills for defense (the army and military), agriculture (farms and food growing), and the legislative branch (Congress). The Senate Democrats who voted for the CR are Senators Cortez Masto (Nevada), Durbin (Illinois), Fetterman (Pennsylvania), Hassan (New Hampshire), Kaine (Virginia), Rosen (Nevada), and Shaheen (New Hampshire). Senator King (Independent from Maine) also voted for it.
Most Democrats in Congress wanted something called "tax credits" for healthcare to be in the CR or appropriations bill. Many people are able to pay less for healthcare every month by using tax credits. Democrats in Congress wanted to make sure people can still use these tax credits, which will stop working at the end of 2025. Senator Thune said that he will make sure that the Senate votes on a healthcare bill that Democrats want in December. But the leader of the House, Representative Mike Johnson (R-LA), did not promise the same thing. There are some House Republican who want to work on the tax credits problem, and other Republicans, including the President, want to try a new way for people to get healthcare. Some people say that this new way could hurt the healthcare system.
View past issues of Disability Policy News to learn more about AUCD's policy priorities and how you can engage in policy actions.
