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Educate Congress Early This Week!
Budget and Appropriations
On March 9th, the Biden-Harris Administration released the budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. The budget contains many proposals for key investments to improve services and supports for people with disabilities. For example, the proposal includes increased funding for home and community-based services by $150 billion dollars and increased funding for special education and early intervention by $16.8 billion dollars for Part B and $932 million dollars in Part C grants.
On April 19th, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) released his bill in the House of Representatives to address House Republicans concerns over the debt ceiling and government spending for FY 2024. In exchange for raising the debt ceiling, the bill looks to limit discretionary spending for FY 2024 to FY 2022 levels, with 1 percent increases every year moving forward. This would make across-the-board cuts of at least $142 billion (or 9 percent) for government programs, which would likely go up to 22 percent or higher for non-defense discretionary programs. These cuts would result in loss of access to childcare, Head Start, housing, food assistance, and longer wait times for Social Security. The legislation further seeks to lock in those cuts for the next 10 years. The legislation would also result in the requirement for 80 hours/month of work or “community engagement” for Medicaid enrollees. Speaker McCarty is planning to hold a vote on his bill this Wednesday!
Plain Language
On April 19th, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) released his bill for the federal budget for next year. The bill will limit discretionary spending, which is the funding for special education, vocational rehabilitation, and programs like UCEDDs and LENDs. The bill also includes changes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) that will impact people with disabilities. The bill will be voted on Wednesday!
Action Steps
Call your Members of Congress and educate them on the important role that Medicaid has in the lives of people with disabilities. Also, educate them on the significant impact that cuts to discretionary programs for people with disabilities will have on the lives of people with disabilities. Congress should lift the debt ceiling without restriction and negotiate budget priorities through the regular budget and appropriations process. You can reach your Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
Biden-Harris Administration Announce Executive Actions To Address Caregiving
On April 18th, the Biden-Harris Administration announced an Executive Order aimed at improving the delivery of care for people across the country. The Executive Order “includes more than 50 directives to nearly every cabinet-level agency to expand access to affordable, high-quality care, and provide support for care workers and family caregivers.”
Some of the highlights in the Executive Order include that it will:
- Make childcare and long-term care more accessible and affordable for families, including military families, by directing federal agencies to lower costs for families benefitting from the Child Care & Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program; and provide support for miliary families by taking steps to improve the affordability of childcare on military bases;
- Improve access to home-based care for veterans by directing the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to give veterans more decision-making power over who delivers their care and when and to consider expanding its Veteran Directed Care program to all 172 VA Medical Centers by the end of FY 2024;
- Boost job quality for early childhood educators by requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to take steps to increase the pay and benefits for Head Start teachers and staff and implement policies so more childcare providers benefiting from CCDBG receive higher reimbursements for the children they serve; and
- Enhance job quality for long-term care workers by directing the Department of Health and Human Service to consider issuing several regulations and guidance documents to leverage Medicaid funding to ensure there are enough workers to provide care to seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in Medicaid and build on the minimum staffing standards for nursing homes.
Plain Language
On April 18th, the Biden-Harris Administration announced an Executive Order that will make it easier for people to get healthcare and childcare and for the professionals that work with them receive a livable wage. Executive Orders are signed by the President and make changes to how different agencies, like the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, work. In this case, the Executive Order is telling different federal agencies how to improve childcare and home and community-based services.
Action Steps
Read the announcement from the White House.
Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act Introduced in the House and the Senate
On April 19th, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Representative Kat Cammack (R-FL-3), and Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-6), introduced the Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act (S. 1183 / H.R. 2706) in both the Senate and House of Representatives. The bills will protect people with disabilities from discrimination if they need an organ transplant. This bipartisan bill is currently in the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
Plain Language
On April 19th, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Representative Kat Cammack (R-FL-3), and Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-6), introduced the Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act. The bills will make sure that people with disabilities are not denied getting an organ transplant just because they have a disability. An organ transplant is when somebody needs a new organ, like a heart, lung, kidney, from a donor in order to survive.
Action Steps
Read the bill text (in the House version). Read the announcement from Senator Rubio and Senator Hassan. Read the announcement from Representative Cammack and Representative Dingell. Call and educate your Members of Congress on the importance of ensuring people with disabilities do not experience discrimination when they need an organ transplant. You can reach all offices by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
The Keep Our Promise to America’s Children and Teachers Act Introduced in the House and the Senate
On April 19th, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Representative Susie Lee (D-NV-3) introduced the Keep Our Promise to America’s Children and Teachers (PACT) Act (S. 1202 / H.R. 2715) in both the Senate and House of Representatives. The bills would address the long time underfunding of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) “by charting a fiscally responsible path for Congress to fund these key education programs fully and reliably.” In the 1970’s, IDEA was passed with the promise that the federal government would fund 40 percent of the special education costs but has never been fully funded. This bill puts Congress on a 10-year track to provide sufficient funds to provide high-quality education to students with disabilities. The bill is currently in the House Education and Workforce Committee, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
Plain Language
On April 19th, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Representative Susie Lee (D-NV-3) introduced the Keep Our Promise to America’s Children and Teachers (PACT) Act (S. 1202 / H.R. 2715). These bills will provide states with more money from the federal government to provide education to students with disabilities.
Action Steps
Read the bill text. Read this announcement from Senator Van Hollen. Read this announcement from Representative Lee. Call and educate your Members of Congress on the importance of fully funding IDEA and Title I. You can reach all offices by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
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!
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- Making comments on the channel
 
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