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Legislation: National


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Although you can visit this page for our updated National Advocacy Alerts! you may wish to receive Advocacy Alerts! on your own e-mail. Click on the link above, sign up and stay on top of important legislation.

Contact Your Lawmakers

We encourage you to contact your Representatives and Senators to let them know how you feel about the legislation listed here. To locate your elected officials, visit the House of Representatives online at www.house.gov/ and the United States Senate at www.senate.gov/.

To learn more about the specific measures and bills outlined here, visit The Library of Congress' Thomas Online.

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New Sign April 2013 - Indianapolis passes Disabilities Business Enterprise program to strengthen community

The City Council of Indianapolis passed a proposal in April and the Mayor signed it in May to make job opportunities more prevalent for people with disabilities; the Disability Business Enterprise program for the City of Indianapolis. It also amends Indianapolis’ code to create a program for utilizing disability-owned business enterprises.

For more information see the article at Indiana Public Media

New Sign Advocacy Alert! March 2013 - DAWN has sent the following Federal Budget Crisis: Speak Out Now Programs for People with Disabilities Will be Cut Unless Congress Acts

Contact your members of Congress now and ask them to prevent a 10% budget cut to programs that provide supports and services to people with disabilities!

People with disabilities will be impacted in a variety of ways if Congress and the President do not reach an agreement to change current law. An automatic 10% cut in federal funding for discretionary programs will go into effect on Friday, Mar. 1 unless Congress and the President can agree to a solution.

Unlike entitlements such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, discretionary programs get a fixed sum of funding. If funds are cut, Wisconsin will receive less federal aid to support a wide range of programs serving people with disabilities. Employment services such as those offered by the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and other job training programs will be cut. At least $18 million in general and special education federal funding will be cut, along with housing supports.

The Wisconsin state budget or other state budgets cannot make up the loss in federal funding. Congress and the President need to hear from disability advocates about the impact of these cuts.

Please make your opinion heard. Contact your Congressional representative through the House of Representatives website.

New Sign February 24th-27th, 2013 - Disabled American Veterans (DAV) will hold Mid-Winter Conference

DAV members are encouraged to attend the Mid-Winter Conference. Read the Legislative Priorities, Grassrooots Advocacy in Action and A Part of our Mission from their webste at Mid Winter Conference 2013 for a thorough understanding of their legislative priorities and plans.

New Sign January 2013-Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will meet with mental health and disability advocates to discuss policies concerning mental health and curbing gun violence legislation

In the wake of President Obama's and Vice-President Biden's commitment to do something to curb gun violence, gun rights backers have asked that mental health issues must be considered. To respond comprehensively to their request, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will meet with mental health and disability advocates this month. The White House would like to propose legislation just after President Obama is sworn in to his next term. For this information, see the Associated Press Yahoo news article White House ramping up gun violence discussions By JULIE PACE, January 8, 2013

New Sign Advocacy Alert! - December 19, 2012 - Fiscal Cliff: The Impact on People with Disabilities - What Does It Mean to You?

The following article was sent by DAWN (Disability Advocates Wisconsin Network) The Congress and the President are negotiating over more than only taxes. If they cannot reach a decision by the beginning of January and if they add cuts to entitlement programs, besides the tax increases and federal spending cuts, there will be drastic cuts to discretionary programs that affect people with disabilities. If you are served by any of the programs relying on a fixed federal funding including those for people with disabilities mentioned below or are concerned about cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, please contact President Obama on his website or contact your Congressional Representative through their website. The House members can inform Speaker Boehner of their constituents’ opinions.

People with disabilities will be impacted in a variety of ways if Congress and the President do not reach agreement to change current law by the end of the year. A combination of federal spending cuts and tax increases will go into effect at the end of 2012 and beginning of January 2013 if no action is taken.

If President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner cannot reach agreement, some taxes will increase, tax credits will expire, and federal unemployment benefits will end. While these actions are concerning, advocates are focused on drastic cuts to discretionary programs like general and special education, employment supports, and housing programs that people with disabilities rely on. Each program would be cut about 8 percent.

Unlike entitlements such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, discretionary programs get a fixed sum of funding. If funds are cut, Wisconsin will receive less federal aid to support a wide range of programs, such as vocational rehabilitation.

Services that assist all citizens will also be cut. Public safety and law enforcement, medical and scientific research, public health; and environmental protection are only a few examples of the services that will be cut is current law is not changed.

The details about the bill to avoid the fiscal cliff are constantly changing. Some entitlement reforms are now under discussion. Congress and the President need to hear from constituents whether programs that serve people with disabilities, such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and many of the discretionary programs need to remain strong without changes.

December 3, 2012 - This Week, Disability Groups are Promoting the U.S. Senate Ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities treaty

According to the U.N. about 126 countries have ratified the Disabilities Rights convention and it is backed by the Obama administration and Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, however the Senate has yet to ratify it. There are Senators opposing the treaty, so amendments are being worked on. Ratifying the treaty will cause no change to U.S. law and it would allow the U.S. to take a leadership position on disability rights throughout the world and ensure Americans with disabilities the same protections they have here in the U.S. when they travel abroad.

For more information, visit the news article at Disability Scoop: Fate Of Disability Treaty Unclear In Senate

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