Action Alerts

Ongoing: Urge Your Members of Congress to Include Long Term Services and Supports in Health Care Reform

Major Events Last Week

Obama Administration

TSeth Harris was confirmed by the Senate for the position of Deputy Secretary of the Department of Labor. Harris was most recently the Obama Transition Project's Agency Working Group Leader for the labor, education, and transportation agencies. He was also a professor and the Director of Labor & Employment Law Programs at New York Law School and was a senior fellow of the Life Without Limits Project of United Cerebral Palsy.

Education

On May 19th the House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing entitled "Examining the abusive and deadly use of seclusion and restraint in schools." The hearing focused on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report which found many school districts lack proper training and oversight of seclusion and restraint practices. Additional testimony was heard from parents with children that were abused or killed by the improper use of seclusion and restraint techniques. The majority of the cases involved children with disabilities. The reaction of the committee members was strong with the introduction on May 22 of HR 2597, "Positive Behavior for Safe and Effective Schools." A Policy Matters report for chapters of The Arc and affiliates of UCP will follow with additional details. View the archived webcast at:
http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/2009/05/examining-the-abusive-and-dead.shtml

Employment

The Social Security Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing last Tuesday to examine the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Employment Support Programs for Disability Beneficiaries. The hearing focused on the implementation Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act and progress that has been made since SSA rewrote the regulations implementing the program. There was also discussion about the Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS) program, which provides advocacy services for beneficiaries who are attempting to work, and the Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA) program. The WIPA program was created to help beneficiaries navigate Social Security's complex maze of work incentive policies. The WIPA and PABSS programs are both due for reauthorization this fall.

Major Events Today

Supreme Court

President Obama announced that federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor is his nominee to succeed Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor's favorable rulings in two prominent disability cases suggest that she understands disability issues. If the Senate confirms her nomination she would become the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court.

Major Events Ahead

U.S. Congress

The House and Senate are in recess this week for the Memorial Day holiday and will return on Monday, June 1.

Announcements

Disability Statistics

The Census Bureau released information about people with disabilities in advance of the anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The release includes select data gathered from various Census Bureau sources. See:
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/
archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013739.html

Emergency Preparedness Report

On May 21^st the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Homeland Security Standards Panel (HSSP) published a workshop report on "Emergency Preparedness for Persons with Disabilities and Special Needs." This report provides strategies to address the barriers associated with emergency preparedness for those with physical and sensory disabilities. See:
http://www.ansi.org/news_publications/news_story.aspx?menuid=7&articleid=2200

Please note that you can view previous issues of the Capitol Insider, at UCP.org anytime by choosing "Capitol Insider" under "Public Policy."

Read previous Capitol Insider issues now.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at acosta@thedpc.org.

Sincerely,

Annie Acosta
Director of Communications and Grassroots
Disability Policy Collaboration