Ongoing Events and Alerts:
- Wisconsin’s first Integrated Employment Summit, co-sponsored by Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities and APSE, will be held Tuesday May 22 in the Wisconsin Dells. The summit will bring people together from across the state for an overview of innovative employment practices and success stories that are improving employment outcomes for people with disabilities in Wisconsin. To register for the summit, visit the online registration page. The registration fee is $25. To request an event fee waiver, contact Ann Sievert prior to registering online. Contact Ann at ann.sievert@wisconsin.gov or (608) 267-9897. The deadline to register is Friday, May 18.
- Support is building in Congress for the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act which would allow the creation of tax-free savings accounts for Americans with disabilities, including autism. Over 130 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 14 Senators have signed on as co-sponsors, and 50 disabilities organizations are advocating for passage this year. Please consider calling your Members of Congress to urge their support! Phone numbers and a brief script are below:
“I am a constituent of [Representative/Senator XYZ], and I am calling to ask him/her to cosponsor [HR.3423/S.1872], the ABLE Act, to help secure a safe future people with autism. The ABLE Act will give families of children with disabilities [like mine] the ability to plan and save for their child’s future just like every other American family, and help people with disabilities live full, productive lives in [their/our] communities without losing benefits. Thank you!”
Senator Ron Johnson: 202-224-5323
Senator Herb Kohl: 202-224-5653
Representative Tammy Baldwin: 202-225-2906
Representative Ron Kind: 202-225-5506
Representative Paul Ryan: 202-225-3031
More information on the ABLE Act is available on the Autism Votes web site. - Disability advocates have much to celebrate in Wisconsin! Three important bills have passed the legislature and have been signed by Governor Walker:
- Lifting the caps on enrollment to the Family Care, IRIS, PACE, and Partnership programs. The bills that passed included an amendment that gave the Joint Finance Committee more oversight about expanding the programs to counties that don’t yet have them. Only Representatives Vos, Kooyenga, Kapenga, Severson and Craig in the Assembly voted against lifting the caps. The bill numbers are AB 477 and SB 380.
- Replacing the “R”-word (“mental retardation”) with “intellectual disabilities” in Wisconsin state statutes. The bill numbers are AB 471 and SB 377.
- Restricting the use of seclusion and restraint on students in schools. The bill numbers are AB 455 and SB 353.
- Update on special-needs vouchers (AB110/SB486): This bill, which ASGM opposes and which did not have the support of any disability organization in Wisconsin, has fortunately been blocked in the state Senate. See the “Special Needs Voucher Alert” at Disability Rights Wisconsin for more information on contents of the bill and the concerns it raised.
- The national Autism Society and the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) have issued a joint statement on the proposed new definition of autism in the DSM-5.
- On Tuesday Nov. 15, the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act of 2011 was reintroduced in Congress, with bi-partisan co-authorship. The ABLE Act would let people with disabilities and their families create tax-exempt “529″ savings accounts that could be used to pay for such expenses as education, housing and transportation — without hurting eligibility for other benefits. Learn more at the Autism Society of America news page.
- The Autism Society of America is taking action to promote the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 — learn more at the ASA’s Current Legislative Issues web site.
- ASGM has signed on as an organization to a letter from the Save BadgerCare Coalition to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, which requests that the federal government NOT approve the Medicaid cuts that passed the Joint Finance Committee earlier this month. Individuals may sign a petition at: http://www.change.org/petitions/save-badgercare. The measures are projected to cause nearly 65,000 people to leave or be turned away from BadgerCare Plus and other Medicaid health programs for the poor. (Note: The CLTS waiver that provides for autism treatment services for children is NOT involved in these changes.)
– Read coverage from the Wisconsin State Journal (11/10/11): Budget panel OKs cuts, expected to force 64,000 off Medicaid
– Read a summary from the DAWN News Service regarding particular concerns in the proposal for people with disabilities.
– Read an October 31 press release from the Save BadgerCare Coalition regarding the proposal and process.
– Read a November 3 analysis of the proposal from the Wisconsin Council for Children & Families (Analyzing the Effects of the Proposed BadgerCare Changes: How Will the DHS Proposals Affect Health Care for Children?)
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