From the Desk of
Joe Bravo,
Executive Director

If there is a central theme to this edition of The Wire, it is the importance of your vote in the 2004 elections. At every level and at every branch of government, both locally and nationally, there are important issues being debated that will affect the ability of people with disabilities to live meaning- ful lives and to participate in the mainstream of American society. Medicaid reform, the education of children with disabilities (IDEA) reform), and the fate of programs that provide employment services to people with disabilities are just some of the issues under Congressional review this year.

In fact, even the survival of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is at risk as we await the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the case of Tennessee v. Lane, in which the plaintiffs sued the state for lack of accessibility to its courthouses. A negative decision by the Court would deny individuals the right to sue states for discrimination against people with disabilities in any service to citizens. Disability advocates nationwide are nervously awaiting the Court's decision and, in case the outcome is unfavorable, new bills to protect the civil rights of people with disabilities by amending current human rights legislation have already been sponsored in Congress and in the New York State legislature.

This issue of The Wire will give you information on some of the issues currently being debated by lawmakers. Familiarize yourself with these issues and learn the positions that each candidate takes. Your vote gives you the power to select those who best represent your interests, and since 2004 is a presidential election year, may even give you power to control who is appointed next to the Supreme Court. If you are not already registered to vote, then do so. Find out if your polling place is accessible and if it is not, let us know so that we can take action. Your informed vote gives you a voice in the decisions that will impact your life - the only voice the politicians seem to hear.

Pataki's Proposed Budget Causes Concern Among Disability Advocates

While there was some good news for the disability community in Gov. George Pataki's proposed budget for the coming fiscal year, the $99.8 billion budget announcement rang alarms at many of the state's agencies that advocate for people with disabilities. Cuts to Medicaid and public assistance benefits to needy families with a disabled member were among the measures proposed by the governor to bridge the state's $5.1 billion budget deficit.

Among the cuts that are of concern to advocates are the elimination of so-called Medicaid "optional" services, such as podiatry and services provided by private practice dentists, nurses, audiologists, and psychologists; Medicaid cost controls for high-cost Medicaid recipients who access mental health, developmental disability, and substance abuse services; and the reduction in TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) to 40,000 low income households, where there is a member with a disability who is receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

The budget also calls for increased co-payments by Medicaid recipients for prescription drugs, the creation of a preferred drug program that would limit access to life saving medications, the transfer of children with family incomes between 100 and 133% of the poverty level from Medicaid to the state's Child Health Plus program, which provides less comprehensive coverage to meet the needs of children with severe disabilities, and the reduction of funding for early intervention programs for children with disabilities by shifting the coverage costs to private insurers and requiring families to pay for some services. And while the governor's budget resumes the reinvestment of dollars saved by closing state psychiatric hospitals to fund community-based housing and mental health services and establishes new funding for adult community housing options, it cuts Aid to Localities that provides funding for core community mental health services to adults

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