Disability Policy News - October 27, 2023

The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing, “Exploring Paid Leave: Policy, Practice, and Impact on the Workforce” October 25th at 10:00 am EST. The Senate Finance Committee will examine the benefits of paid leave for businesses, and employees, and the need for federal action. 

The House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing “Supporting Access to Long-Term Services and Supports: An Examination of the Impacts of Proposed Regulations on Workforce and Access to Care” on Wednesday, October 25^th at 2:00 pm EST.  The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, will learn more about the unique challenges faced by people receiving long-term supports and services (LTSS), and the workforce that provides LTSS.

The Senate Aging Committee will hold a hearing, “Unlocking Hope: Access to Therapies for People with Rare, Progressive, and Serious Disease” on October 26^th at 10:00am EST.  The Senate Aging Committee will hear from experts and people with rare, progressive, and serious diseases about therapy treatments.

The Senate Finance Committee is holding a hearing to discuss paid family and medical leave.  A hearing is when Senators or Representatives get to ask experts on a particular topic, questions so they can learn more from experts and make decisions on what to include in bills. This hearing will allow Senators on the Finance Committee to better understand why giving employees time off for different family or medical emergencies is good for business and for employees. The hearing is October 25^th at 10:00 am EST.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is holding a hearing to discuss long-term services and supports, and how they can help improve access to care. The hearing is October 25^th at 2:00 pm EST

The Senate Aging Committee is holding a hearing on treatments for people with different serious diseases. The hearing is October 26^th at 10:00 am EST.

Watch the livestream of the Senate Finance Committee’s hearing on paid family and medical leave on October 25^th at 10:00 am EST.

Watch the livestream of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s hearing on the long-term services and supports on October 25^th at 2:00 pm EST.

Watch the livestream of the Senate Aging Committee’s hearing on therapies for rare, progressive and serious diseases on October 26^th at 10:00 am EST.

On the 50th anniversary of Rehabilitation Act, the U.S. Department of Labor announced it will hold a series of stakeholder engagement sessions to hear from members of the public, in particular workers with disabilities, about their experiences with the Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Section14c allows some employers to pay people with disabilities subminimum wages. The first session will take place virtually on Thursday, October 26, 2023, from 5:30 – 7:00 PM ET. Anyone wishing to participate must register by October 25 using this link.

On September 28^th, Senator Duckworth (D-IL), Senator Warren (D-MA), Senator Markey (D-MA), Representative Sarbanes (D-MD-3), and Representative Sessions (R-TX-17) introduced the Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act of 2023 (S. 2984 / H.R. 5813).  The bills will establish uniform enforceable accessibility standards for websites and applications that are required to be accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to people with disabilities.  The bills will also establish technical assistance centers and grant programs to help websites and other applications to become more accessible.

On September 28^th, Senator Duckworth (D-IL), Senator Warren (D-MA), Senator Markey (D-MA), Representative Sarbanes (D-MD-3), and Representative Sessions (R-TX-17) introduced the Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act of 2023 (S. 2984 / H.R. 5813).  The bills will require businesses and other places that have to be ADA accessible to make their websites or applications (like phone apps) accessible to people with disabilities.

Read the bill text.  Read the announcement from Representative Sarbanes.  Call and educate your Members of Congress on the importance of accessible websites and applications. You can reach your Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

On September 29^th, Representative Wilson (D-FL-24) introduced the Transportation Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities (TAID) Act (H.R 5859).  The bill directs the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation to award 10 grants of $110,000 annually for 5 years to establish a protection and advocacy system to support accessible transportation. These programs will be part of the existing Governor-designated protection and advocacy agencies. The bill has bipartisan support, and there is no Senate companion yet.

On September 29^th, Representative Wilson (D-FL-24) introduced the Transportation Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities (TAID) Act (H.R 5859). The bill provides grants to protection and advocacy agencies to help make transportation more accessible.

Read the bill text. Read the announcement from Rep. Wilson.  Call and educate your Representative on the importance of accessible transportation.  You can reach your Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

The Administration for Community Living (ACL) published a policy roundup with more information regarding policy activities in HHS. It includes details about new CMS regulations, 988 crisis hotline updates, long-covid protections, the proposed rule to update Section 504 and more. 

The White House Office of Public Engagement regularly hosts calls to discuss any federal updates that will affect the older adults and people with disabilities. The next call is November 2^nd, at 2:00 pm EST. Register here.

On September 7^th, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a historic Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will update Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The proposed rule titled “Discrimination on the Basis of Disability in Health and Human Service Programs or Activities” will update Section 504 to ensure that people with disabilities are not discriminated against in any program or activity that receives funding from HHS. This is the first time in about 50 years that the rule has been updated. The proposed rule will work to prevent discrimination in medical treatment, access to medical equipment, access to web, mobile app, and kiosk accessibility, access to child welfare programs, access to community living and in value assessment methods. HHS is accepting comments on the proposed rule until November 13^th. All resources have been gathered by the Administration for Community Living on one webpage at ACL.gov/504rule.

On August 25^th, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a Request for Information (RFI) inviting feedback on a proposed rule to update their mission statement. The NIH is the nation’s largest medical research agency. The current mission statement is “to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability”.

In 2021, the NIH established an Advisory Committee to the Director Working Group on Diversity, with a subgroup focusing on individuals with disabilities. In 2022, the subgroup released a report that contained several recommendations to reduce ableism, including changes to the mission statement. The proposed revised mission statement is “to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and to apply that knowledge to optimize health and prevent or reduce illness for all people”. NIH is accepting comments on the new proposed mission statement until November 24^th. 

On September 7^th, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a new rule that would update Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 504 protects people with disabilities from being discriminated against in certain healthcare and in other programs. HHS is accepting comments on the new rule until November 13^th.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has asked for public comments on their new mission statement, which describes the goal of the organization. The NIH does research to improve the health and lives of people. Their current mission statement is “to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability”.  The proposed new mission statement is “to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and to apply that knowledge to optimize health and prevent or reduce illness for all people”. NIH is accepting comments on the new proposed mission statement until November 24^th. 

Learn more about the proposed rule from HHS.  Read this Factsheet about the proposed rule from HHS  in multiple languages. Submit comments on the proposed rule from HHS.

Learn more about the RFI from NIH . Submit comments on the RFI.