n Monday, Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-Hudson) stood with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to announce the Assembly’s legislation that will help restore funding cuts to New York’s Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) that were included in this year’s state budget.
“When this year’s final budget cut vital funding for the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, I promised to continue fighting to make sure our most vulnerable citizens were not left behind,” Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-Hudson) said. “Today, I am proud to support legislation that would ensure the restoration of funding for OPWDD, promising to provide the best possible care for those New Yorkers and their families who need our support.”
The original cut from OPWDD was the result of a negotiated deal between New York State and the Federal government to resolve an issue of overpayments made to the state for services provided by OPWDD. The deal included the state decreasing the amount owed to the federal government from $1.1 billion to $500 million, Barrett explained.
In addition, Monday marked Legislative Disabilities Awareness Day in the Assembly. In honor of this, the Assembly passed a package of bills to make sure that those living with disabilities receive all of the same rights and protections as others.
Among bills included in the package are:
- preventing the discrimination against a person with a service dog – whether they are training the dog or are using it to aid with their own disability; it also makes it a discriminatory housing practice to refuse occupancy or attempt to evict someone based on their use of a service dog (A.5788);
- requiring that sign-language interpreters be made available upon the request of a hearing-impaired individual at public hearings and meetings; this bill would also establish provisions for assistive listening systems to be required in rooms used for public hearings that accommodate over 100 people (A.2826);
- enable blind and visually impaired registered voters to request Braille or large-print absentee ballots to be sent to their homes for all elections administered under the election law and education law; provisions are included in this bill to allow such ballots to be used in education law election polling places until the new machines are fully phased in (A.6195-A);
- establish the New York State Interagency Coordinating Council for Service-Disabled Veterans. This council will be tasked with better identifying the needs of our service-disabled veterans and efficiently matching these needs with appropriate state resources (A.6213-A);
- aid localities in preparing for and responding to disasters by requiring counties to maintain a confidential registry of people of all ages with disabilities who may require evacuation assistance and shelter during a disaster; provisions are included in this bill that would provide people the option to not be included in the registry (A.6432); and
- establish an advocacy program for individuals with developmental disabilities who receive services through a managed care organization which would advise individuals of applicable rights and responsibilities; provide information, referrals and technical assistance; and pursue legal, administrative and other appropriate remedies to ensure the protection of the rights of the enrollees (A.6962).
“This package of legislation is designed to make sure that our neighbors living with disabilities are afforded the same basic rights, protections and opportunities as all New Yorkers,” Barrett said. “I am proud to join my colleagues in assuring the voices of people with disabilities and their families are heard in Albany.”
