Disaboom DayAlMohamed - All Comments

Re: From the ADA Restoration Act to the ADA Amendments Act

Kimberly Hinton — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:18:43 GMT

It was very disheartening, after so much work on the original ADA legislation, to have the Supreme Court so narrowly interpret the ADA to basically render the law meaningless. Remember when they ruled a man with one eye was not disabled because he could see with the other eye, therefore he could be discriminated on that basis because he was not disabled enough to be protected. It was so clear in the legislative history of the original ADA legislation that this law was to protect people from discrimination on the basis of physical disabilities, not give companies the right to discriminate on the basis of disabilities because they weren't "disabled enough". It was a devastating ruling that ripped the heart and soul out of the legislative intent of the ADA of 1990 that meant to open the doors for qualified disabled people, who wanted the same shot at a job, that other nondisabled people had. I am so glad to see this legislation. It is heartening to see the bipartisan support this law has. This law is simply making the playing field fair for everyone, not just those who are genetically blessed. Good Job everyone! Thanks for not giving up!

Re: From the ADA Restoration Act to the ADA Amendments Act

Kimberly Hinton — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:18:39 GMT

re: From the ADA Restoration Act to the ADA Amendments Act

Nanal — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:35:50 GMT

I think we owe you......and people like you who follow and participate in legislation that's important to people with disabilities............a loud and collective THANK YOU !........Seems like we're slowly getting somewhere. Again.......you have my sincerest thank you !..........Peace and love........Norma

re: From the ADA Restoration Act to the ADA Amendments Act

bonnie — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:27:29 GMT

This is great news. I, myself, did not understand that further legislation was needed, based on initial news from sources like the NY Times. It seemed like an executive order would do it. So it is good to have that clarified, and also to have an update on what appears to be positive progress. Thank you. bonnie

re: Day in Washington Podcast #16 (Legislative Update - Medicaid Reimbursement, SCHIP, Hate Crimes)

DayAlMohamed — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:49:46 GMT

Day in Washington – Podcast #16 (January 2, 2008)

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to a Day in Washington. Day in Washington is your disability policy podcast covering legislative issues of interest to the disability community. We also spotlight specific bills and other related news articles. I’m your host, Day Al-Mohamed working to make sure you stay informed. This is Podcast #16 for Monday, January 2, 2008.

Congress is in recess. The House of Representatives will return on January 15 and the Senate returns on January 22.

It is a brand new year, but many of the legislative issues of 2007 still remain. This week’s episode is a status update on a number of issues that have been discussed previously. These concerns include: hate crimes legislation, SCHIP, Medicaid reimbursement and budget spending.

APPROPRIATIONS

For this episode’s review, lets start with money - The President and the Democratic Congress have been at odds over funding levels for domestic programs since last January.

H.R. 2764, also called the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 is the omnibus spending bill that provides funding for government to run while the remaining 11 spending bills that Congress have not yet passed this year continue to languish. H.R. 2764 passed the Senate by a vote of 76-17 on December 18, followed by the House, the next day with a 272-142 vote and was signed by the President last week.

Initially, the House and Senate approved domestic spending legislation that was $22 billion over the President’s request. He threatened to veto this legislation. Because the close numbers of Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate make it difficult to obtain the two-thirds majority required to override a veto the legislation has been trimmed by over $11 billion.

While a few disability programs received small increases, others were level-funded or received small cuts.

SCHIP

Now, if you’ve been following the State Children’s Health Insurance Program or SCHIP (H.R. 3963) and the proposed changes to Medicare and Medicaid, you know that there is a lot of tense discussion and negotiation going on. The first bill (H.R. 976) was passed by Congress, but vetoed by the President. It was revised and Congress passed H.R. 3963 (the revised SCHIP bill), only to have it vetoed again in mid-December.

On December 12, the House chose to defer the vote to override the presidential veto until January 23. Instead Congress approved the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (S. 2499). The legislation also includes an extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program through March 31, 2009 that provides sufficient funding to avoid funding shortfalls in 2008.

MEDICAID REIMBURSEMENT MORATORIUM

This legislation also includes a six month (until June 30, 2008) moratorium on the proposed Medicaid rehab option and school based services/transportation regulations.

This moratorium is vital because on Friday the 21st, the Administration issued a new rule that eliminates Medicaid reimbursement for certain transportation and administrative activities and services that schools provide for students with disabilities.

Schools have been proven as one of the best means for outreach to children. As a result, a wide range of medical services are now furnished to students in schools such as various forms of speech and physical therapy, psychological services and even immunizations. Medicaid helps pay for those activities for low-income children, however, the new rule will significantly restrict when schools can bill the federal government for activities they perform that are associated with providing health care.

I have to admit that I have some concerns that with the issuance of the final rule coming so close to the declaration of the moratorium the impact will be small and schools will be forced into submitting to this rule to protect themselves from liability, costs and fines from the Federal government.

HATE CRIMES LEGISLATION

And finally, rather disappointing news on the hate crimes legislation front. Late last year, hate crime language was added to the Defense Authorization bill, a must-pass piece of legislation, in hopes that would increase the chances for passage of the hate crime protection for women, gay, lesbian and transgender individuals, and also, people with disabilities.

In early December House Democratic leaders reported that they just did not have enough votes to adopt a conference report for the defense authorization bill if it included language on hate crimes.

Senate leaders insisted on including it in the final version, but House leaders concluded that it would doom the measure in their Chamber, leaving it about 40 votes short of passage. In addition, there was considerable concern that the President would veto the bill if it included the Hate Crimes language.

Hate Crimes legislation has been introduced every year since the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay Wyoming college student; the majority of the time (although this is often overlooked by the media) the measures have also included “disability” as a protected class.

This year was the first time both chambers passed the language in the same year. However, I have to admit that for this Congress, and this time (leading into an election year), we have probably lost the best opportunity to enact hate-crimes legislation until 2009. Regardless, efforts will continue to get this very much needed measure passed.

CLOSING

And that is it for this week’s edition of Day in Washington. For links to more information, please check the show notes. Please feel free to contact me at www.dayinwashington.com regarding comments or suggestions. I’d love to hear from you, but for now, this is your host, Day reminding you to stay well and stay informed.

EPILOGUE

Music for this podcast was provided by the podsafe music network @ podsafemusicnetwork.com. The music was composed and performed by 2012 and can be found at www.twentytwelverecords.com.

Any opinions and perspectives expressed in this podcast should not be taken as the official stance of any group or organization affiliated with the host. In addition, none of the facts, data, or grammar have been checked for accuracy.

Thank you for listening.

re: Day in Washington Podcast #15 (International Day of the Disabled Person)

DayAlMohamed — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:44:11 GMT

INTRODUCTION

December 3rd was the International Day of the Disabled Person. I posted Barack Obama’s statement on the day but there was a lot going on regarding people with disabilities around the world. This week’s podcast covers a few of the events to remind us that we are all in this together.

Marking the International Day of Disabled Persons, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized that people with disabilities have the ability to make valuable contributions in the workforce as employees, entrepreneurs and employers.”

In Bangkok, Thailand as a part of the celebration of the International Day of Disabled Persons they honoured people with disabilities with photographs depicting their daily lives.

Sponsored by the International Labour Organisation and the Irish Aid, the Asia-Pacific photographic competition aimed at raising awareness on giving decent work and wages to people with disabilities and workers in general. The first prize went to Hung Nguyen (Viet Nam) for his photo Net Casting.

The description reads: He casts his net everyday. Like any normal fisherman, he would do this chore early in the morning so he could sell the catch before noontime. But unlike other fishermen, he does his chore with only one arm. He lost the other during the Viet Nam War. He is one of the many nameless persons who make a decent living despite their disabilities.

In Zambia, Vice- President Rupiah Banda made remarks in Lusaka at the Agricultural and Commercial Showgrounds stating that the “government will contintue to do everything possible to ensure that persons with disabilities in Zambia have access to their inalienable rights and obligations” and had “spearheaded the implementation of the disability and development chapter in the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) as recommended by Parliament.”

International Labour Organisation (ILO) representative for Zambia, Gerry Finnegan said this year’s event would expose the barriers preventing people with disabilities from fully participating in the labour market and highlight efforts taken to overcome them by governments, worker and employer organisations.

In India, Fifty-seven organisations from all across India working with the disabled participated in a two-day ‘Abilities Mela’ over the weekend to demonstrate the skills and talents of people with a variety of disabilities.

This was the fourth such festival organized in New Delhi, but it was the first time that the National Trust, a statuary body with the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment – working for the welfare of people with disabilities was organising it with support from companies like Cadbury, Nestle, IBM, Honeywell International, , PriceWaterhouse Coopers and Pantaloons among others. One of the biggest problems that the disabled face in Inida is unemployment. Their employment rate in both the public and private sector is abysmally low.

According to the Census 2001, approximately 2.13% of the total population in India have disabilities. However, disability advocates in India dispute these figures because of the definition of disability and because of the stigma attached. As one woman stated, “People do not like to report disabled persons in their family and census enumerators are also reluctant to pose this question before them so as not to embarrass the family.”

And in the United States - Japan sponsored a concert at the United Nations with Thirteen pianists with disabilities from seven countries. In their program titled “Unheard Notes,” they gave a two-hour performance as part of efforts to raise global awareness about disability issues ahead of their Carnegie Hall performance.

December 3rd also marked the launch of the disability coalition – Ratify Now. RatifyNow was founded by lifelong disability rights advocates who worked with other advocates at the United Nations to produce the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The membership is comprised of individuals and organizations who are passionate about using the CRPD to protect and advance the rights of people with disabilities worldwide.

RatifyNow was begun to support the efforts of disability rights advocates to persuade their national governments to ratify the CRPD and its Optional Protocol without reservations. I know that the American contingent is very passionate about urging the United States to take action on this. It is my hope to address the CRPD in detail in an upcoming podcast.

In related news, Spain became the tenth country to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which introduces new international human rights standards to combat discrimination and promote equality of persons with disabilities.

Spain’s Vice-President María Teresa Fernández de la Vega today deposited her country’s instrument of ratification, following Bangladesh and South Africa, which ratified on November 30th. Ten more ratifications are now needed for the treaty to come into force.

CLOSING

EPILOGUE

Music for this podcast was provided by the podsafe music network @ podsafemusicnetwork.com. The music was composed and performed by 2012 and can be found at www.twentytwelverecords.com.

Thank you for listening.