From Inside Washington by NDRN staff

[Guest guest]

Congress left town for its August recess on August 1st and will return after Labor Day. It probably is just as well that Senators and Representatives left considering the very little work that was being accomplished due to the “hyper-partisan” atmosphere in both chambers. However, in the midst of all the bickering, a few things did get accomplished. The Conference Committee finally finished work on the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (H.R. 4137), which includes a loan-repayment program that could benefit all P & A/CAP attorneys. The Senate introduced its version of the ADA Amendments Act (S.3406) on July 31st and, as of today, it has 64 co-sponsors (a very good mix of Republicans and Democrats). Congress finally passed its comprehensive housing bill and the President signed it into law on July 30th. The House Financial Services Committee favorably reported out the Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008 (H.R.5772), which would re-vamp the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities Program. On the other hand, while things did not go as well with our efforts on the reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice bill. There are more opportunities for success as the legislative process moves forward. Unfortunately, FY 2009 appropriations remain in limbo. Model comments on the proposed ADA Title II and III regulations are available at http://www.ndrn.org/DOJ_NPRM/index.htm. The deadline is August 18th. Finally, the Administration on Developmental Disabilities has re-opened the comment period until September 29th for the proposed DD Act regulations.

T. FacultyUniversity of Phoenixmtbclarion@...mtbclarion@...Pacific Time