| Home | Our History |  |
Gov't Affairs | Membership | Publications | Events | Affiliates | Awards | Feature | Members Only |
 |
Government Affairs |
[an error occurred while processing this directive] Governmental Affairs: Advocacy in action. Read current and previous Legislative Network Alerts. View a listing of the Legislative Network Members. Frequently asked questions about the Legislative Network. |
Legislative Network Alerts Alert Number 129 May 23, 2005 For Your Information 'Rally 'Round the Rehab Act' -- The Must March in May To: Members of the Legislative Network From: Patricia Leahy, Director of Governmental Affairs More than 43 advocacy organizations and groups are co-sponsoring the Rally for maintaining the integrity of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, as well as maintaining the integrity of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), which administers and has the expertise-- both in Central Office and in the Regional Offices -- in the Rehabilitation Act. The integrity of the Rehabilitation Act is only as strong as the entity that administers it. RSA is under attack in many subtle, but substantive, ways. Maintaining the integrity of RSA is inextricably linked to maintaining the integrity of the Rehabilitation Act. The Rally, which will take place on Thursday, May 26, 2005, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. will be held at the U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. This is one of the most important events that you will attend because not only is RSA under attack, but the programs administered under the Rehabilitation Act, as well. So, why do we say this? First, it was the U.S. Department of Education's strong support for the downgrading of the Office of the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration from a Presidential appointment to a Director, appointed by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. The Senate rejected this misguided effort, and we are happy to report, maintains current law on the Office of the RSA in its Senate WIA bill, S. 1021. Then, it was the U.S. Department of Education's strong support for the WIA PLUS BLOCK GRANT AMENDMENT, which BOTH Houses of Congress thankfully and thoughtfully rejected. Now, it is the elimination of RSA's Regional Offices which have the principal responsibility -- and more importantly -- expertise -- in both monitoring and technical assistance on the VR Program to not only the States but to many individuals with disabilities. We are attaching for your information (see below) the latest information we have on the Rally, as well as today's Fox News 5 report on the Rally, which quotes Dr. Joanne Wilson, the recently-resigned Commissioner of RSA. We are also attaching all the information we have on the Rally, including instructions on when, where, what is expected, etc. We hope this information is helpful to you. Please do not hesitate to e-mail me directly if you have any questions -- any questions at all-- on this Rally. We have heard from several of our Chapters and they will be attending. We urge you to participate in this Rally and voice your support for not only the integrity of the Rehab Act, but for RSA, as well. Thank you for your continued advocacy and attention. We look forward to being with you in Washington on May 26. May 20, 2005 Dear Colleagues: Your 34 organizations have now joined with the National Federation of the Blind to cosponsor this rally. (See Quick List attached.) Television, radio, newspapers—the media—have been contacted; 500 rally signs have been printed up; and plans for the day have been worked out. We are expecting 1,000 people at the rally on May 26 and we are counting on you to be in this number! Please distribute the following information to your members. THE HOTEL: Holiday Inn Capitol: 550 C Street, Southwest, Washington, DC 20024 THE RALLY SITE: In front of the Department of Education (north side), 400 Maryland Avenue, Southwest, Washington, DC 20202 ARRIVAL: Buses and vans can be unloaded in front of the hotel or at the rally site. PARKING: Large vans and buses can be parked at Union Station. See attachment: Directions between hotel and Union Station. Vehicles under 6’6” can park in the Holiday Inn parking garage—entrance on 6th Street Southwest (maximum fee 15). RALLY MARSHALS: We will designate rally marshals to give directions and be of assistance. They will be wearing National Federation of the Blind badges. SCHEDULE: 9:30 a.m.: Go to the Discovery Room in the hotel. Signs will be distributed to participants, along with rally information. Next, proceed straight to the rally. Rally marshals will direct the traffic. 10:30 a.m.: Rally begins. Proceed with chants, songs, and sign waving. Noon: Rally program begins. We prepared a large banner which lists the cosponsors to hang behind the stage. · VERY IMPORTANT: Each cosponsoring organization needs to send one representative to the stage by 12 o’clock. Each representative will have one minute to announce the name of the group and say one or two sentences to the crowd. With 34 cosponsors, this part of the program needs to move quickly. · Introduction of former RSA Commissioners. · Introduction of Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, and Rally Coordinator. · Special presentation. 1:30 p.m.: Dismissal of participants. DURING THE RALLY: · VERY IMPORTANT: Bring and hold high the portable banner or sign with your group’s name on it. (Think “photo op”) · VERY IMPORTANT: Each organization is responsible for accommodations needed by its members, such as interpreters, personal care attendants, and so on. · Wear comfortable shoes. · If it looks like rain, bring rain gear. · Bottled water and First Aid kits will be available for emergencies. · Remind participants to follow the directions of the rally marshals. · Bring a camera to take photographs of your own group at the rally, so that you can forward shots of local people to your hometown newspaper with your own press release. BACK HOME: For those in your organization who cannot come to the rally, here are some things they can do at home to be helpful. Please urge your members at home to do any or all of these actions. 1. Email (or Fax: (202) 401-0596) a personal letter to Margaret.Spellings@ed.gov; with a copy to Christina.Wilson@ed.gov; or call her office at (202) 401-3000. Each person should email or fax a copy of this letter to his or her elected representatives in Congress. 2. Contact the local press and get an article in the newspaper or on television or radio. The local NFB in Hawaii got an article printed already and now can work on a follow-up article getting printed during or just after the rally. 3. Write a letter to the editor or an opinion piece and get it published in the local press. 4. Go to local political forums and press conferences. In Florida, a local group of the NFB went to a press conference Secretary Spellings held and they asked some pertinent questions. 5. Write and sign a petition to be emailed or faxed to Secretary Spellings. In Maryland, a local organization wrote a petition that was signed by all 500 members. 6. Hold your own press conference, and pass out Press Kits to educate the reporters on the issue. This rally will be held rain or shine. See you there! Joanne Wilson National Federation of the Blind FOX News Coverage of Rally Disabled Advocate Quits Administration in Protest Monday, May 23, 2005 By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos WASHINGTON - On Thursday, less than three months after resigning from her post as commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration, Joanne Wilson will be on the outside, leading a rally in front of the U.S Department of Education, her former employer. Wilson told FOXNews.com that the rally will be to protest policy proposals that could devastate federally funded vocational rehabilitation for disabled people across the country. 'A very effective, specific program that is designed to help people with disabilities is being devalued and ultimately destroyed,' Wilson said. Wilson, who is blind and counts herself as one of the millions of beneficiaries of federal assistance, quit her job at the RSA - an agency within the Department of Education - on March 1. She said her resistance to the pending closure of 10 regional offices and opposition to the administration's push to increase block-grant job-placement funds to the states were ignored. 'They knew that I was an advocate for people with disabilities and an advocate for dollars for people with disabilities,' said Wilson, who was appointed by President Bush in 2001. 'When they knew I wasn't going to follow, they just cut me off. It was all done above me.' But John Hager, assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitation services, suggested Wilson's differences of opinion on how the RSA should be run were getting in the way of agency operations. He defended the administration's strategy to reduce the bureaucracy and reorganize the state funding formula to provide more flexibility to the states. 'We're changing cultures here in a sense,' Hager told FOXNews.com. 'The RSA has been around for a long time ... but the fact is we can provide the assistance and do the work at the state offices in a more effective manner. It's not a new concept.' Wilson, a former public school teacher, now a director at the National Federation of the Blind, said downsizing and block grants - popular in the Bush administration - won't necessarily work for disability programs. With an annual budget of approximately 2.9 billion, the RSA provides 80 percent of each state's funding for vocational rehabilitation services for the disabled. The 138-person staff, which will be cut to 70 in the department's plans to close the regional offices, provides oversight and technical assistance for statewide programs. The RSA estimates that these public and private programs, which provide training and rehabilitation to the mentally and physically disabled, assist about 1.2 million people and place about 215,000 in jobs annually. Wilson said that elimination of the regional offices will remove accountability. But others who support the administration's plans for internal reorganization of the RSA say it's about getting funds directly to those who need them. It 'means more money will be spent on training and services for individuals with disabilities, and fewer resources will be devoted to unnecessary bureaucracy,' said Kevin Smith, spokesman for the Republicans on the House Education and Workforce Committee. But critics say any money saved from the office closures will likely go to the mandatory 3 percent cost-of-living increase for RSA's budget, while plans to cut several programs next year would go forward. 'It's just a shell game,' said Paul Marchand, staff director for The Arc of the United States and the United Cerebral Palsy Disability Policy Collaboration, which represents about 1,100 service providers and affiliates across the country. 'It's a zero-sum increase.' Congress has not yet passed the budget, which is part of the Department of Education appropriations. The Workforce Investment Act reauthorization, which contains RSA vocational rehabilitation service funding, is set to be tackled by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the next few months. The administration is pushing a proposal for the WIA that would offer states the choice of receiving block grants that would incorporate RSA and Department of Labor job-placement funds for both disabled and non-disabled workers. The proposal is controversial and was not in the House reauthorization bill passed in March. It is uncertain whether it will make it into the final Senate legislation. Wilson said the block grants would be attractive to cash-strapped states, which would likely put more of the money into quick and cheap non-disabled placements at the expense of other programs for the disabled. 'If we cut back funding and mush it in with other generic programs in the system, the adult disabled folks will be left behind,' she said. Paul Leather, director of Adult Learning and Rehabilitation in the New Hampshire Department of Education, which receives about 10 million in federal funds and helped 1,245 disabled people get jobs last year, said he is worried his staff will dwindle under block granting. 'We would have concerns about the quality of staff and the dedicated resources that would be available to disabled people in terms of employment,' Lather said. Hagar, who is wheelchair-bound after contracting polio in 1974, warned about such speculation, saying that the states would still have to follow stringent spending requirements attached to money for disability programs. 'Nobody's ever tried it so how does anyone know it won't be better? The money would be available, [the block grants] wouldn't be mandatory and would be used at the discretion of the states,' he said. 'I wouldn't be so negative on it at all.' Hagar also disputed Wilson's claim that the office closings hurt accountability, and he defended the planned program cuts. 'We respect these people and want to do all we can to produce results, but the fact remains that we need some changes and new approaches to achieve the best results,' he said. A staff member at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee said a lack of support for the block grants by Democrats and moderate Republicans on the committee might keep that provision from the final WIA legislation. Meanwhile, Wilson said she plans to help make the public aware of the administration's proposals and is sorry it didn't work out for her at the RSA. 'I was told that they wanted me to make a difference for people with disabilities.' |
|||||
| Home | Our History |  |
Gov't Affairs | Membership | Publications | Events | Affiliates | Awards | Feature | Members Only |