Action Alerts

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

Major Events Last Week

U.S. Congress

The Congress was in recess all week in honor of Memorial Day.

Obama Administration

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the appointment of Cindy Mann to serve as the Director of Medicaid and State Operations (CMSO) at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Most recently Ms. Mann served as a research professor and the Director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute. During the Clinton Administration she was Director of the Family and Children's Health Programs at CMSO.

Employment

On May 29, the House Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness held a hearing to examine best practices for improving job training. This was the fifth hearing the committee has held as it works toward reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act, which provides job training, education programs, vocational rehabilitation and other services to Americans. One of the witnesses addressed important disability concerns including the need for improvements in universal design, supported employment, school to work transition, and access to assistive technology. See:
http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/2009/05/new-innovations-and-best-pract-4.shtml

Education/Seclusion and Restraints

On May 26, Tom Webb, a Joseph P. Kennedy Fellow with the DPC, and other members of the disability community met with several officials from the White House, Department of Education, and a variety of national school association and professional groups regarding abusive seclusion and restraint practices in our schools. This meeting was organized by the White House and served as a follow-up discussion related to the House Committee on Education's May 19, 2009 hearing on the issue. Concerns regarding the dangerous use of seclusion and restraints on children with disabilities were discussed at length. The White House agreed that the Administration must take a larger role in addressing the harmful impact of seclusion and restraint, address alternative approaches such as Positive Behavior Supports (PBS), examine funding around the issue, and provide better federal guidance. See the Education and Labor Committee's Hearing:
http://edlabor.house.gov/newsroom/2009/05/gao-report-finds-hundreds-of-a.shtml

Education/Bullying

H.R. 1589, "Bullying and Gang Reduction for Improved Education Act" was introduced by Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA). The bill seeks to amend the "Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act" and includes language that addresses bullying and gang reduction. Currently there is limited language in the bill addressing bullying of students with disabilities. The American Psychological Association (APA) is examining research on this topic and will work with Education and Labor Committee staff to include additional language where needed. The DPC will work with the APA and monitor this bill closely. See:
http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.1589:/

Major Events Ahead

U.S. Congress

The Congress returns to work today with a heavy four week work load leading up the Independence Day recess. Health care reform, the Supreme Court nomination and the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriations process are expected to dominate the agenda.

Health Care Reform

Congressional deliberations on health care reform legislation will kick into high gear this week, and if Committee plans hold firm, move quickly throughout June. First, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, will conduct a walk-thru of his proposed legislation with Democratic and then bi-partisan members of the Committee this week. Hearings are expected to follow with a mark-up in mid-June. The Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), has already conducted three bi-partisan walk-thrus of its concept proposals and will hold mark-up sessions in early to mid-June. Following mark-ups of their bills, both Committees will meld their legislation together before sending it to the Senate floor for consideration in July.

In the House, the Committees on Energy and Commerce, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Ways & Means, chaired by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), and Education and Labor, chaired by Rep. George Miller (D-CA), will reportedly release their joint draft bill during the week of June 15. Hearings will be held in each Committee, possibly at the Subcommittee level, during the week of June 22. Full committee hearings will commence the week of July 6 and mark-ups in each committee will reportedly be held during the week of July 13. The goal is to bring the legislation to the House floor during the week of July 27.

International Rights

This Friday, Tom Webb, along with approximately 30 directors of disability and human rights advocacy organizations will meet to review existing analyses and determine further strategies in the United States' consideration of joining the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The President can make the U.S. a signatory of the Convention, but it takes an act of Congress to ratify the Convention. White House officials have stated that the Convention is "important to the President and a priority of the President." A Capitol Hill briefing on the CRPD is scheduled for this Wednesday. For more information see:
http://ratifynow.org/2008/05/22/june-3rd-briefing-on-capitol-hill/

Announcements

Employment Fines

The company that for 35 years housed dozens of processing plant workers with intellectual disabilities faces $900,000 in state fines for thousands of alleged labor-law violations. The proposed penalty marks the first government enforcement action against Henry's Turkey Service in the 15 weeks since the company's Atalissa bunkhouse was shut down by the state fire marshal. See:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090529/NEWS10
/905290375&theme=ATALISSA

Goodbye Erika

Erika Hagensen will officially depart the DPC staff on Thursday, June 4. She resigned her position as Director of Disability Policy, Technology and Family Policy to move to North Carolina to join her husband as he begins his medical residency program. The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy, along with the DPC staff, wish her the very best in all her endeavors.

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