Action Alerts

Ongoing:

• Another action alert on long term services and supports coming soon. Stay tuned.

Major Events Last Week

Health Care Reform

Despite multiple meetings and conflicting pressures, House and Senate Democratic leadership, along with key Obama Administration representatives, achieved no major breakthroughs on health care reform.

At the end of the week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced that the House lacked a sufficient number of votes to pass a strong public option for the new health insurance Exchange. She and other members of the Democratic leadership are negotiating with other House members to develop alternative forms of a public option. Meanwhile thirty-six moderate House Democrats wrote to the Speaker expressing concern that the House bill does not take adequate steps to lower health care costs.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT), along with senior White House officials, continued private negotiations to merge the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Finance Committees' health reform bills.

H1N1 Flu

In what was viewed as a precautionary measure to assist hospitals, President Obama signed a Proclamation declaring the H1N1 flu a national emergency. The declaration gives Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius the power to authorize waivers of various legal requirements as individual medical facilities request them. Children and adults with cognitive disabilities and cerebral palsy who also have chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, or other respiratory conditions are at greater risk of contracting the flu.

Hate Crimes

Hate crimes legislation, H.R. 1913 and S. 909, passed the Senate and the House as part of the 2010 Defense Authorization bill. The bill's provisions expand the definition of federal hate crimes to cover attacks based on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability. Inclusion of people with disabilities in the hate crimes legislation ends a decade-long battle. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation.

Education

U. S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan released a policy letter on October 21 providing additional guidance to state and local school systems about the use of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that nearly doubles the funding for Fiscal Year 2009 for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) State Grant program. Secretary Duncan's letter urges school authorities to use the additional funding to improve results for students with disabilities. Anecdotal evidence indicates many school systems are using the new IDEA funds to prevent the lay offs of teachers and other school personnel and filling other budget holes rather than improving the quality of special education. Special education advocates need to be diligent in monitoring the use of the ARRA IDEA funding. The Secretary's letter can be accessed at:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/secletter/091021.html

Employment

President Obama forwarded to the Senate the nomination of Lynnae M. Ruttledge as Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration. The Rehabilitation Services Administration oversees the state implementation of Vocational Rehabilitation Act programs. Ruttledge has served as the Director of the Washington Department of Social and Health Service, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation since 2005. She must be confirmed by the Senate before taking her new position.

Emergency Management

Mark Shriver, Chair of the Commission on Children and Disasters created by Congress, testified about the Commission's interim report before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. The report, which was sent to the President last month, identified several gaps in disaster preparedness for children and people with special needs, including problems with emergency shelters, medical and mental health clinics, schools and childcare facilities. Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar (D-MN) said he wants to include disaster planning for special-needs populations into a draft of his panel's Federal Emergency Management Agency authorization bill. National Council on Disability Chairman John R. Vaughn also testified and said that most planning being done at the state and local level does not include people with disabilities and their advocates.

Major Events Ahead

Health Care Reform

The Senate Democratic leadership's negotiating team continues work on merging the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Finance Committees' health reform bills. Majority Leader Reid hopes to send a finished product to the Congressional Budget Office this week for a cost estimate. In the House, Speaker Pelosi continues meetings with members of the Democratic caucus in an effort to reach consensus on a public option and cost containment issues in the House health reform bill.

FY 2010 Appropriations

Congress continues to make slow progress on enacting FY 2010 appropriations bills. Conference reports on two appropriations bills are scheduled for floor votes in the House and Senate. The Congress will also need to pass an extension on the Continuing Resolution (CR) that expires at the end of this week. A CR keeps those programs and agencies whose FY 2010 appropriations are still pending operating at FY 2009 levels. The next CR is expected to last through November and possibly December. An Omnibus Appropriations bill, which would combine all the FY 2010 appropriations not yet enacted into law, becomes increasingly likely before the end of the year.

Housing

On Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee's Housing, Transportation, and Community Development Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), will hold a hearing on the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act (S. 1481). This legislation will reform the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program and increase the number of affordable units for people with disabilities across the country.

H1N1 Flu

On Tuesday the House Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology, chaired by Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), will hold a hearing on the "Federal Response to the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic".

Announcements

H1N1 Flu Fraudulent Supplements

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a joint warning letter to Internet web sites that fraudulently market H1N1 flu supplements that claim to prevent the H1N1 flu. The agencies told the owners that they must discontinue the fraudulent marketing of their product or face legal action. Since May 2009, the FDA has warned more than 75 Internet sites to stop the sale of more than 135 products with fraudulent H1N1flu claims. The agency's Fraudulent 2009 H1N1 Influenza Products List can be accessed at:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/h1n1flu

Asset Building Webinar

The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law is hosting a webinar on "Accessible Assets: Bringing Together the Disability and Asset-Building Communities" on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 from 1:00 PM- 3:00 PM Central Time. The webinar will provide information on how asset building tools can be effectively used to increase the financial stability and independence of individuals with disabilities. Speakers will discuss the current research on disability and poverty, successful national and local programs, and the continued challenges and opportunities in policy and program design. Webinar participants will gain an understanding of how potential partners, including state asset building coalitions, disability rights organizations, and financial institutions, can help in these efforts. Register online at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/302741482

National Council on Disability Meeting

The National Council on Disability (NCD) will hold its quarterly meeting on October 26-28, 2009 in Nashville and will discuss employment, health care, and restraint and seclusion issues. For the agenda and additional information see:
http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/quarterly/
2009/agenda_oct26-28,2009new.htm

ADAAA Regulations Town Halls

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division will hold a series of four full-day Town Hall Listening Sessions. The purpose of the town halls is to obtain direct input from the business/employer communities as well as the disability and disability advocacy community on EEOC's proposed regulations under Title I (employment) of the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA). Five-minute time slots to address the panel will be available. To register as a speaker, please contact Ms. Linda Li at 415-625-5618 (TTY 415-625-5610) or at Linda.Li@eeoc.gov. For dates, times, and locations see:
http://eeoc.gov/ada/adaaa-registration.html

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