Public Policy
On this page we will list proposed legislation, regulations, congressional groups, caucuses, and so forth that are of particular interest to people with disabilities.
 | State Government |
View the 87th General Assembly page »
Vote 2010
The results of the 2010 runoff elections is now available for download, compiled by the Arkansas Legislative Digest.
The judicial runoff will be on Tuesday, Nov 2, 2010 in conjunction with the general election.
The 2010 voting calendar for Arkansas is available to download from VoteNaturally.org.
Arkansas 2010 Fiscal Session
In this section we will point out disability-related legislation we are following during the 2010 Fiscal Session of the 87th General Assembly. We encourage you to be informed, read any proposed legislation carefully, and make your voice heard. For your convenience, here is a link to the Arkansas 87th General Assembly - Fiscal Session 2010.
Arkansas's Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009
Visit the Web site of Arkansas's Recovery and Reinvestment Act to learn how the money Arkansas receives will be spent, what kind of oversight will be involved, and what kind of accountability is being put in place. http://recovery.arkansas.gov/
Click on http://www.recovery.gov/ for information about the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: State-By-State Estimates of Key Provisions Affecting Low- and Moderate-Income Individuals. Read more »
The $789 billion U.S. economic stimulus package, which was signed into law February 17th by President Barack Obama. Click here to read how the economic stimulus plan affects individuals with disabilities »
To see the Arkansas School District allocations pursuant to the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Funding Allocations For Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Part B, Section 611 - State Grant FY 2009-10, click here »
Arkansas AG Issues Opinion on Medicaid Issue
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel issued Opinion No. 2008-165, December 17, 2008. Representative Johnson requested an opinion from the Attorney General on how a "special-needs trust" established by a third-party, with the third-party's assets, impacts the beneficiary's eligibility for Medicaid. To read the full opinion click here.
Arkansas Delegation Casts Votes
The Arkansas delegation to the Electoral College met in the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the State Capitol Monday, December 15 and cast their votes for the presidential and vice presidential candidates. A recording of this historic process is available at http://ideas.aetn.org/web/electoral
 | Federal Government |
HHS Rescinds Three Medicare Regulations
6/30/2009: Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that the administration will rescind all or part of three Medicaid regulations that were previously issued and delay the enforcement of a fourth regulation. One of these rules would have eliminated reimbursement for school-based administrative costs and costs of transportation to and from schools. Read more »
Kaiser Foundation Survey on MFP Grant Findings
6/29/2009: Money Follows the Person: An Early Implementation Snapshot - A 2008 Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured survey of 29 states receiving MFP grants (Arkansas) turned up several key findings, including that several hundred people have moved from institutional to community settings; that states are providing a broad range of services to facilitate transition; that housing issues for MFP participants are a major challenge for states; and that the severe economic downturn had not yet prompted states to scale back their efforts. Read more »
SSA Hiring!
4/29/2009 - Social Security Administration begins a new hiring initiative. Read more »
NCD Policy Paper Admits Failure
4/27/2009 - During its quarterly meeting, National Council on Disibility released an important policy paper, Federal Employment of People with Disabilities. Among other findings, the paper concludes that current efforts to employ people with disabilities in the Federal Government have not worked well, and makes recommendations for reversing this trend.
NCD Presidential Report Recommends Change
4/27/2009 - National Council on Disibility released its annual report to the President
and Congress called for a new integrated approach to disability policy from the Federal Government.
Labor Dept. Employers Database
3/19/2009 - U.S. Labor Department makes available to employers database of more than 1,900 job candidates with disabilities. Read more »
Family Support Clearinghouse
2/23/2009 - From the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, the Academy for Educational Development (AED) was awarded a contract in FY 2008 to develop and maintain a National Clearinghouse and Technical Assistance Center on Family Support. It is now named, the Family Support Center on Disabilities: Knowledge & Involvement Network and has launched its website. The website is available at www.familysupportclearinghouse.org, is family-centered, and offers practical information. This is phase one of the website; therefore, the content is being updated on a regular basis. This is a great opportunity to find or add information relating to family support.
SCHIP Passage
1/30/2009 - SCHIP passage brings mental health parity to millions of children.
2009 Poverty Guidelines
1/26/2009 - The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services has released the poverty guidelines for 2009.
Special Report on Child Health Insurance
January 2009, Families USA issued a special report on the State Child Health Insurance Program. Be sure to read "Yes, We Can Cover More Than 4 Million Uninsured Children".
President Obama Orders Work "Unfinished"
In his first action as President of the United States, President Obama has ordered regulators to leave work unfinished. The President's action applies to the DOJ's proposed regulations for Titles II and III of the ADA and the EEOC's proposed regulations for Title I of the ADA. To read more click here.
Recovery Proposal Released
January 16, 2009 - The U.S. House of Representatives released it's economic recovery proposal. Click here to read the proposal.
2009 State of the State
January 13, 2009 - Governor Beebe gives 2009 State of the State address before the 87th General Assembly. To hear or read his address, click here.
VA Plans to Reopen Enrollment
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced plans to re-open enrollment in its health care system by July 2009 to about 265,000 veterans whose incomes exceed current limits. The change affects veterans whose incomes exceed the current VA means test and geographic means test income thresholds by 10 percent or less. Congress provided funds in VA’s fiscal year 2009 budget to support the new enrollment. The rule should take effect by June 30, 2009.
New Online Resource For Medicare
The Medicare website has a new online tool for finding and comparing nursing homes. You can try it by going to http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/home.asp
FMLA Regs Finalized
The Department of Labor published final regulations on November 17, 2008, making significant changes to the rules implementing Title I of the Family and Medical Leave Act. The 201-page rule, which goes into effect January 16, 2009, implements leave provisions created by the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008. The regulations implement two new leave entitlements referred to as "qualifying exigency leave" and "military caregiver leave." There are also significant changes to the definition of "serious health condition," an amendment to conform to the decision in Ragsdale v. Wolverine World Wide Inc., 535 U.S. 81 (U.S. 2002), a clarification of the medical certification procedure, and other changes. To read the DOL final rule click here.
President signs continuing resolution - H.R. 2638, Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 became Public Law No: 110-329
September 30, 2008 - The federal government of the United States operates on a budget calendar that runs from October 1 through September 30. Each year, the Congress authorizes each department, agency, or program to spend a specific amount of money, and the President signs the bill into law. This money may not be spent, however, until it has been appropriated for a given purpose. Because of this system, Congress is required to pass separate spending bills every year to ensure the operation of government. If Congress fails to pass such a bill, or the President fails to sign it into law, non-essential functions of the government will cease, as they are no longer allowed by law to spend money.
In order to prevent the interruption of government services, Congress will often pass a continuing resolution. This authorizes government agencies to fund their agencies at the current level until either the resolution expires, or an appropriations bill is passed. A continuing resolution must be passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by the President.
To read the full text of the Act click: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-2638
Congress Overrides President's Veto
July 15, 2008 - Congress voted quickly and overwhelmingly to override the President's veto, by 383-41 in the House and 70-26 in the Senate. The Medicare Improvements Act, with equal coverage of mental health services, becomes law. [More...], Read the text of this new law here.
House Votes to Recognize Civil Rights for Disabled
Washington Post, Sunday, July 6, 2008; B06 - The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), passed in 1990, was supposed to level the playing field for the disabled. It ended up helping some more than others. If you had an incurable disease, such as epilepsy, that affected your everyday actions but could be treated with medication, you were not disabled, the Supreme Court determined, and you did not deserve the accompanying rights. That soon may change, thanks to a remarkably cooperative effort by businesses and advocates of protections for the disabled. The House recently voted overwhelmingly to expand those protections, and the Senate is expected to follow suit. Although President Bush has expressed concerns that excess litigation may ensue, he is unlikely to veto the bill, nor should he.
The ADA's ambiguous language -- a disability is "impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities" -- shackled many of the protections offered by the law and saddled the Supreme Court with a no-win choice: either limit the definition of "substantially limits" and exclude people with serious impediments, or expand the definition and provide protections for those with minor impairments whom Congress didn't intend to protect. The court has consistently chosen the former definition. The revision of the ADA should ease this dilemma.
What changed? Last year, a majority of the House supported a version of the Americans With Disabilities Restoration Act that offered more generous protections than the original one; this convinced businesses that it was in their interest to negotiate with disability groups. The compromise, which both sides find amenable, instructs the courts to broadly interpret the definition of disability but not to include every impairment under the definition. Someone with an "actual or perceived impairment" will also be able to seek damages on the basis of that impairment. For example, an applicant for airline pilot can no longer be discriminated against on the basis of eyesight, as long as he or she has corrective eyewear. Most significantly, the Restoration Act defines "substantially limits" as anything that "materially restricts" a major life activity, a distinction that will give the disabled more opportunities to seek protection without putting an undue burden on employers.
Social Security Issues Debit Cards
June 10, 2008 - The US Treasury and Social Security Administration has begun to offer SSDI and SSI recipients who have no bank accounts the option of receiving their SS and/or SSI benefits on a Debit Card (like a "gift" card). More details on this program are available on the US Treasury website at http://www.directexpress.org/.
ADA Amendment Act of 2008 (previously ADA restoration act of 2007)
With the passage of the ADA, Congress intended to protect anyone who is treated less favorably because of a current, past, or perceived disability. As with other civil rights laws, Congress wanted to focus on whether an individual could prove that he or she had been treated less favorably because of a prohibited characteristic (e.g., race or sex for Title VII and disability for the ADA). Congress never intended for the courts to seize on the definition of "disability" as a means of excluding individuals with serious health conditions like epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, HIV, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis.
Yet this is exactly what has happened. Through a series of decisions interpreting the definition of "disability" narrowly, the Supreme Court has inappropriately shifted the focus away from an employer’s alleged misconduct onto whether an individual can first meet a "demanding standard for qualifying as disabled."
So in order to restore the ADA to what Congress intended that ADA Amendment Act of 2008 has been introduced. To read the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 [ADA], including changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, go to http://www.ada.gov/pubs/ada.htm
Department of Transportation Amends Air Carrier Access Act Regulations to Apply to Foreign Carriers
DOT also provided more detailed guidance concerning individuals with mobility impairments or who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as those using service animals or oxygen devices.The ACAA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in air travel and was originally passed in 1986. The new final rule takes effect May 13, 2009. To learn more about the new rule click http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/08-1228.htm
The Blue Dog Coalition
The fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition was formed in 1995 with the goal of representing the center of the House of Representatives and appealing to the mainstream values of the American public. The Blue Dogs are dedicated to a core set of beliefs that transcend partisan politics, including a deep commitment to the financial stability and national security of the United States. Currently there are 49 members of the Blue Dog Coalition including Representatives Marion Berry and Mike Ross from Arkansas. To learn more about this coalition go to http://www.house.gov/ross/BlueDogs/index.html.
|
