New York

First up, New York State. Two important developmental disability-related bills in New York got, well, nowhere this legislative session.

The first is the Direct Support Wage Enhancement bill, which would raise wages an extra $4,000 per year in income for Direct Support Professionals. It was proposed on the heels of the legislature landing on a mere 4% cost of living increase for the critical workforce.

The other is Andre’s Law, which would stop government agencies from sending any more children to the Judge Rothenberg Education Center in Canton, Mass., reportedly the only institution in the country to use electro-shock and other aversive therapies for behavior modification on students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). More of the JRC’s residents come from New York than any other state.

Overall, almost 900 bills cleared the Assembly and Senate and now go to Governor Hochul to look at, fiddle with, and yay or nay over the next six months.

Congress

Critical programs could be slashed:  In shockingly unsurprising news, the GOP’s bad-faith debt ceiling negotiations are already falling apart.

Chair of the House Appropriations Committee Kay Granger (R-TX) and her subcommittee lieutenants “took decisive action last week and set topline spending for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills at FY 2022 levels,” reports the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Committee (COPAA) in its newsletter. “This means the much-discussed 302(b) allocations -which set the total spending limits for each of the 12 appropriations bills are far lower than was agreed to in the recent debt ceiling default and budget deal passed by Congress and signed by President Biden.”

The spending proposals will cut non-defense discretionary programs such as education, healthcare, and research by more than $130 billion. For education alone, the cuts could be in the $30 billion range. (The measures are likely dead on arrival in the Senate, COPAA notes, where Democrats have indicated they plan to use every dollar agreed to in the budget deal.)

Potential Housing Discrimination updates: From Disability Scoop, Feds Seek To Revamp Rules Related To Disability Housing

Photo: Unsplash