Public Policy for the People: Volume 2, Issue 2 - Jan 21, 2016

public policy for the people header

Special Edition   •   2016 Legislative Primer   •   Volume 2, Issue 2

Insider Highlights

This marks the second week of the Georgia General Assembly. Last week Governor Nathan Deal gave his annual State of the State. Governor Deal focused on the progress being made in the Georgia economy; thousands of non-violent offenders who have been diverted from prison into accountability courts; juvenile justice reform; efforts to improve education; the continued growth of Medicaid from $2.6 billion in FY2013 to $3.1 billion in FY2017; and the need for state employees and teachers to receive a 3 percent pay raise.

To learn more about the issues we will be advocating for this year under the Gold Dome, click HERE.

Advocacy Actions: Get Involved!

1. DD Waiver Advocacy: Call your legislators on Thursday, January 21. Give them the message to support adding more NOW/Comp waivers to the budget to address the longest Georgia waiver waiting list of OVER 8000 families who are desperate for a lifeline. To find your legislators' names and contact information, please visit www.openstates.org.

2. ICWP Waiver Advocacy: Register for next week's ICWP advocacy day on January 27 at the Capitol, then mark your calendar to give your legislator a follow up call on Thursday, January 28. Give them the message to support a rate increase for the Independent Care Waiver Program (ICWP), the lowest reimbursed waiver in Georgia, to get the reimbursement rate up to $20/hour so Georgians with significant physical disabilities can get the quality care they need. To find your legislators' names and contact information, please visit www.openstates.org.

3. Join GCDD for weekly legislative calls throughout the session: Every Monday at 9:30 a.m. Dial 1-888-355-1249 and enter passcode 232357 at the prompt.

Budget 101

DBHDD Budget

Governor Deal released his budget recommendations last week. These links will take you to the amended 2016 budget with the DBHDD information starting on page 66 and the fiscal year 2017 budget with the DBHDD information starting on page 114. The 2017 budget includes 100 new NOW waiver "slots". In addition, in the 2017 budget there is $11.9m for the new COMP rates, for 6 months. It is not known at this time if this is enough funding to support all of the new COMP rate structure if calculated on an annualized basis.

100 new slots is not enough to address the growing waiting list of over 8,000 people with developmental disabilities. The state of Georgia spends over $23 million a year that is NOT matched by Medicaid on services for people with developmental disabilities. A large number of people receiving these state-funded services are eligible for Medicaid waivers. If Georgia converts 20%, or $4.75 million, of unmatched state funds to Medicaid waivers, that will bring down an additional $10 million in federal funding and cover many new waivers.

If you were unable to attend the DD Waiver Advocacy Day on January 20th, please call your legislator to let them know of your support for additional DD waivers.

DCH Budget

In addition, the Department of Community Health (Medicaid) amended 2016 budget starting on page 77 and Please sign up for ICWP Advocacy Day on January 27 starts on page 135. The Governor did not add any new funds to address the low reimbursement rate for the Independent Care Waiver Program. Because of the low rates, many individuals find it extremely difficult to find and retain qualified direct support staff who will work for $8 or $9 per hour. We need you to contact your legislators and encourage them to increase the ICWP rate to $20 per hour. For an incremental increase of $3/hour, this will require an additional $7,975,490 in new funding to be added to the FY2017 budget.

Please sign up for ICWP Advocacy Day on January 27 and help us advocate to increase the reimbursement rate so that individuals can find and retain qualified staff who are paid a living wage.

Issue Update

To see the most updated version of the GCDD 2016 legislative agenda, please click here.

Employment First
Our friends in the legislature want to see Georgia's Employment First Council created - and so do we! On the last day of 2015, the House Study Committee on Postsecondary Education and Employment Options for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities released this report. The study committee is recommending that the Governor issue an Executive Order to create the Employment First Council that would be hosted by the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. The Employment First Council will be charged with identifying Georgia's educational and employment support system for people with disabilities, identifying the service gaps in that system, creating recommendations to move forward, and advising both providers and state agencies on the transition to becoming an Employment First state.

If you haven't already, please e-mail the Committee Chair Representative Katie Dempsey, a note to thank her for advocacy and leadership around Employment First! We are collaborating with GVRA and working to support Chairman Dempsey on her recommendation of the creation of the Employment First Council. We could not have come this far without the support of so many people in the employment community. THANK YOU, and please join us to keep the momentum going on Employment First Advocacy Day on February 11th!

Inclusive Post-secondary Education
If you look at all the young adults with cognitive disabilities here in Georgia, only 32% of them have jobs. But if you look at their peers who have received an inclusive post-secondary education, 57% have jobs, and another 22% are furthering their education.

That amazing difference in employment outcomes is one of the many reasons to support inclusive post-secondary education (IPSE). Inclusive post-secondary education programs make college accessible for students with developmental or intellectual disabilities. In 2013, Georgia only had one IPSE program. Now there are four: the Academy for Inclusive Learning and Social Growth at Kennesaw State University, the CHOICE Program at East Georgia State College, the GOALS Program at Columbus State University, and Excel at Georgia Tech. A fifth program, Destination DAWGS at the University of Georgia, is currently in the works.

A lot of this exciting growth is thanks to the annual support that these programs began receiving from the General Assembly in the 2014 budget. This year, we're asking our legislators to DOUBLE their investment in inclusive post-secondary education - an increase of $200,000 - so that a total of $400,000 can go to supporting IPSE in Georgia. Because these students are not eligible for HOPE, we are also asking the legislature to begin creation of a state-funded scholarship program.

This is a big, exciting ask and we need your help with it! Please sign up for Inclusive Post-Secondary Advocacy Day on February 2nd and help us advocate to make inclusive post-secondary education possible for even more young Georgians!

ABLE -
submitted by Elizabeth J. Appley, Esq., AADD Public Policy Advocate

We are excited to report that the Georgia ABLE Act was introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives last week. Representative Lee Hawkins' (R-Gainesville) Bill (HB 768) has 57 co-sponsors from both parties, including House Appropriations Chair Terry England (R- Auburn), House Judiciary Chair Wendell Willard (R-Sandy Springs), House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones (R-Milton), House Democratic Caucus Chair Virgil Fludd (D- Tyrone), Rep. Katie Dempsey (R-Rome), and Rep. Scot Turner (R- Holly Springs).

HB 768 has been assigned to the House Ways & Means Committee chaired by Rep. Jay Powell (R-Camilla), and assigned to Rep. Bruce Williamson's (R-Monroe) Income Tax Subcommittee for a hearing that could come as soon as this week. We will keep you posted! HB 768 has been perfected to comply with recent changes to the federal ABLE law and approved by national ABLE experts from Autism Speaks, National Down Syndrome Association and the National Disability Institute, who are supporting ABLE efforts across the country.

We are delighted that support from representatives and senators has been very strong. The Senate Republican Caucus included the ABLE Act in its top priorities for the 2016 session. The Medical Association of Georgia has also adopted a resolution supporting enactment of ABLE legislation.

We thank all of you who have already reached out to your representatives and senators, and ask everyone to please take the following action steps this week to help pass ABLE legislation:

  • Contact your House and Senate members and urge them to support HB 768. An updated set of talking points is attached with the complete list of coalition members.
  • If your legislator is among the sponsors of the Bill, please thank them!
  • If your legislator is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, your contact is especially important now. Please let me know what response you get by emailing me at .

If you haven't already done so, please register for ABLE Lobby Day on February 24, 2016.

Family Care Act

The Family Care Act (HB 746) was re-introduced in the House to incorporate changes that were made to the bill last Session. When the Senate version of the Family Care Act was introduced (SB 242), language regarding employee right of action was removed. Employee right of action is the private right of an employee to pursue claims against employers to enforce their rights. If Family Care Act legislation passes, employees will still have the right to take up to five days of earned and accrued sick leave to care for an immediate family member.

HB 746 has been assigned to the House Industry & Labor Committee, and the bill sponsor, Rep. Tommy Benton, has requested a hearing (and a vote). So we need your help in contacting members of the House Industry & Labor Committee to ask for a "yes" vote when the bill is presented. We do not have a date yet, but this session is moving very quickly and the vote could take place as early as next week. We'll let you know as soon as we have a date.

Here are the points to make when discussing the bill with your legislator:

  • Most importantly, we want them to know that we have removed the employee right of action language. This was done at the request of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
  • HB 746 does not require a company to offer sick leave.
  • HB 746 allows an employee to use only sick leave that has been earned and accrued to care for an immediate family member. The number of sick days that can be usedfor this purpose is capped at five days.

Please send any feedback about what kind of response you get from the legislator(s) to Mary Frances Williams at .

Standard of Proof for Intellectual Disability

Georgia is the only state in the country that uses the most difficult standard of proof in order to meet the legal standard of Intellectual Disability in death penalty cases "beyond a reasonable doubt." This standard is a fairly challenging legal obstacle to overcome, and Georgia is an outlier in requiring it. Of the 33 jurisdictions that still have the death penalty, 22 use the "preponderance of the evidence" standard. Because of Georgia's incredibly high standard of proof, the state continues to execute people with developmental disabilities, including Warren Lee Hill, who was executed on January 27, 2015. Had Mr. Hill been convicted of the same crime in any other state, he would not have been eligible for the death penalty.

Please register to attend the advocacy day scheduled for this issue on February 9 here.

Bills

2016 House Bills

This section presents a sample list of bills that GCDD is tracking. Please note the information within this section is current as of Friday, January 15, 2016 (cutoff for publishing). For a more complete list of Bills that GCDD is tracking, click here.

House

HB 614: Valencia Stovall
Landon Dunson Act
3/19/2015 - House 2nd Readers

HB 700: Bubber Epps
Therapy; services under Medicaid for children with disabilities
1/11/2016 - House 2nd Readers

HB 710: Scot Turner
Georgia Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act
1/14/2016 - House 2nd Readers

HB 722: Allen Peake
Patient Registry for the use of medical cannabis
1/14/2016 - House 2nd Readers

HB 746: Tommy Benton
Sick leave for care of immediate family member
1/28/15 - House 2nd Readers

HB 768: Lee Hawkins
ABLE program establishment to use tax exempt accounts to pay for qualified expenses of eligible individuals with disabilities.
1/15/2016 - House 1st Readers

Senate

SB 3: Renee Unterman
Supporting and Strengthening Families Act
2/12/15 - House 2nd Readers

SB 66: Lester Jackson
Create Governor's Task Force on Blind and Visually Impaired Persons
2/2/2015 - Read and Referred to Senate Health and Human Services Committee

SB 242: Michael Williams
Allow employees to use sick leave for the care of immediate family members
4/02/2015 - Senate Withdrawn & recommitted to Senate Health and Human Services

Advocacy Corner

Question of the Week: What are the most important elements to telling my story to a legislator?

Answer: It is personal - it is about you or your loved one.It is directly linked to an issue or problem that you would like to discuss.It is clear and concise.There aren't any extra details about things unrelated to the issue or story you are trying to tell.

To see a list of legislative terms associated with the Georgia General Assembly, click here.

Dates to Remember

GCDD Advocacy Days, Teach-ins, Weekly Policy Calls, and Disability Day:

Support our Partners at the Capitol:

  • January 28, 2016: Be There 4 Seniors Rally
  • February 24-25, 2016: Senior Week


Resources

Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities 2016 Legislative Agenda
Tips on How to Speak with Your Legislator
Accessibility on Capitol Hill
House Committee Meeting Calendar
Senate Committee Meeting Calendar
Watch the Session Live
Find your Legislator
Georgia State Constitution

Join Our Advocacy Network

To receive updates and calls to action during the session, be sure to join our advocacy network. In order to ensure you receive important legislative communications, be sure to select to receive both the Public Policy and UNLOCK alerts.

Sincerely,

GCDD Public Policy Team

Tags: GCDD, Advocacy, public policy