Update from the Arc of Illinois

[Guest guest]

The Arc of Illinois

December 5, 2008

Leaders in The Arc:

We had an excellent Illinois Conference of Executives of The Arc

meeting, with a panel discussing the recent national and state

elections and the elections impact on disability policy.

The panel included:

v Representative Kathy Ryg, Chairperson, House Disability

Services Committee

v Marty Ford, Governmental Affairs, The Arc of the United States

v Phil Milsk, Governmental Affairs, The Arc of Illinois

Even with the tremendous economic challenges facing us, the panelists

were optimistic about the Obama Presidency and recent changes in the

Illinois Senate Leadership.

Obviously everything in the near future will revolve around the

economy, and disability advocates will have to position themselves in

terms of their roles in the stimulus of the local economies. Many of

you are major employers and economic engines in your community. The

economy also presents us with the rebalancing of the Illinois

Developmental Disability System away from institutional services to

home and community based services. Your message about Illinois being

51st in the nation is resonating with legislators and policy makers.

Keep up your good work!

Following are some of the issues I thought you might be interested in

hearing about from the panel discussion.

Obama Transition

ü In his first year as President, expect to see a major push on

health care reform.

ü The economic stimulus package will include an enhanced

Medicaid match for the states.

ü Centers for Medicare & Medicaid will continue to exert

pressure for states to move away from institutional services.

ü Advocates feel that the reauthorization of IDEA will include

attorney fee recovery and expert witness costs for parents who

prevail in due process.

ü Overall President Elect-Obama has many disability advocates

involved in his transition team, and we expect much more favorable

reception to disability issues within his administration. The Arc of

the United States has already been asked to participate by Obama's

staff.

ü In Fiscal Year 2009, appropriations bills relating to

disability services have not been enacted. The appropriations remain

at their current levels, preventing any increases to existing

services or funding for new programs.

Below is a link to policy recommendations that is being used by

disability advocates with the Obama Administration that Marty Ford

shared with us.

Illinois Issues

ü Legislators are positive about the new leadership in the

Senate. We all hope that Senate President Cullerton and the new

Senate Minority Leader Radogno will bring an end to the

gridlock we now face in the Capitol.

ü Advocates were disappointed that Senate President Cullerton's

first written comments on his priorities as Senate President did not

include anything about disability or human services.

ü There may be some movement in the next session to consider tax

reform. It is more likely that increased gas tax, internet taxes and

others may move forward.

ü Many legislators are unaware of the delay in payments to

providers and further cuts to disability services including cuts to

community grants.

ü There remains tremendous mistrust between the Governor and the

Legislative Leaders.

ü Legislative awareness and support for the Blueprint for

Redesign is growing. The fact that Illinois is ranked at 51st is

troublesome to many legislators.

ü The economy will drive everything in the upcoming legislative

session.

The top priority for The Arc will continue to be fiscal issues in the

new legislative session. You need to be paid on time, direct services

cannot be cut, and we need to move people off the waiting list.

We appreciate your membership in The Arc. We need to be working more

closely together now in these tough economic times.

At this time more than any other, we all need a strong state and

national voice for people with disabilities and their families. That

voice is The Arc.

Tony auski

The Arc of Illinois

815-464-1832

Policy Recommendations for Obama Administration

The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), a coalition of

more than 100 national disability organizations, submitted its policy

recommendations to the Obama transition team. View the document

at: http://www.c-c-

d.org/task_forces/trans/CCD-Transition-Recommendations-11-17-08.pdf

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