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May 1, 2026 | Vol. MMXXVI | Issue 159
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In this edition:
Budget and Appropriations
Voting Rights
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Education
Department of Justice ADA Rule
New Legislation
AUCD Materials
Words to Know
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Budget and Appropriations |
On April 30, the House voted to pass a Senate-passed bill that funds non-immigration enforcement agencies in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ending the longest recorded shutdown of a single federal agency in U.S. history. This bill includes funding for agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Congressional Republicans are still forging ahead on a party-line budget reconciliation bill to fund the immigration enforcement agencies in DHS.
Appropriators have begun drafting legislation to fund various federal agencies, as well as holding markups and hearings to consider the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2027.
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Plain Language |
Appropriations means money that is set aside by Congress for a particular use.
On April 30, the House voted on a bill that the Senate already passed. This bill will give funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) except for immigration police. Immigration is when people leave one country to live in a different country. Congress has been trying to figure out how to fund DHS for a while. Democrats and Republicans were not agreeing, which meant that DHS didn’t have money, so it had to shut down. This was the longest shutdown of a government department in U.S. history. Now, the bill has passed both the Senate and the House, so the President can sign it, and the DHS shutdown will end.
Congressional Republicans want to pass a bill to give money to the part of the Department of Homeland Security that includes immigration police: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They are using a special process called reconciliation. This process can be used for bills that are about spending money. It can be used when the same political party (Republicans or Democrats) are in charge of the Senate, the House, and the Presidency. This is because you don’t need as many lawmakers to vote ‘yes.’ It is usually used when lawmakers in one political party (either Democrat or Republican) want to pass bills they know the other political party wouldn’t like very much. Republicans in the House might have different
priorities than Republicans in the Senate, and the Senate has different rules than the House, so some things might change about the bill.
Congress is starting to write bills that will include appropriations for different federal government departments and programs in the coming weeks. They will hold budget hearings, where they meet with agency leaders who will talk about the President's Budget. HHS is in charge of funding and other support that AUCD programs get. Congress will also hold markups, which is when they meet to work on bills and make updates and changes.
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Voting Rights |
On April 29, the Supreme Court ruled to narrow a provision of the Voting Rights Act in their decision on a recent case, Louisiana v. Callais. The case centered around a newly drawn Louisiana congressional map that ensured two of the state’s six districts were majority Black. The Supreme Court found this map to be unconstitutionally gerrymandered because it took race into account to draw its lines.
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Key Takeaways |
The Voting Rights Act was signed into law In 1965. In the years since, Section 2 of the law has protected against discrimination in voting and elections. It specifically “prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in one of the language minority groups” listed in another section of the Act. In 1980, the Court held that a plaintiff in a lawsuit alleging a
Section 2 violation had to prove that these practices or procedures were undertaken intentionally to discriminate.
Because discriminatory intent is more challenging to prove, Congress passed an amendment in 1982 so that if congressionally drawn maps had the effect of diluting minorities’ voting power, those cases could still be tried. This week’s ruling basically nullifies this amendment, according to Justice Kagan, one of the dissenters. Justice Alito said that the plaintiffs in this and other voting discrimination lawsuits are “dressing their political-gerrymandering claims in racial garb.” Basically,
the majority opinion alleges that Democrats are using this newly drawn map for partisan purposes rather than to rectify racial discrimination.
The dissenters and advocates say that this new ruling could “dilute minority citizens’ voting power”, leading to further disenfranchisement for people of color, including people of color with disabilities. It will likely make it much harder for people of color to challenge redistricting plans that could weaken their political power and thus their representation in local, state, and federal government.
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Plain Language |
On April 29, the Supreme Court made an official decision, called a ruling, about a case called Louisiana v. Callais. In this case, Louisiana had made a new map that changed some areas, called districts, so that there were two districts that had mostly Black people. The rest of the districts had mostly white people. The Supreme Court said this new map was against the law because it purposefully tried to make it so that two districts had mostly Black people. Black people often do not have as much political power as white people, and districts affect this.
This case affects how judges across the country, including the Supreme Court, understand and follow the rules of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The VRA was passed into law in 1965. It has a section (Section 2) that says you can't do things that would discriminate against people because of their race or some other part of them, or if they are in a minority group. When someone is a minority, they are part of a small group and they usually don't have as many rights as other people. Black people and other people of color are considered minorities. People with disabilities are also considered minorities. Discriminate means to treat people badly because of who they are.
In 1980, the Court said that if you want to sue someone (ask a court to change something someone else is doing) because you think they are not following the law of the VRA, you have to prove that they are purposefully discriminating against minorities. Because it is very hard to prove that someone is doing something on purpose, Congress decided to change this a little. In 1982, they passed an update to the VRA that says you don't have to prove that someone is discriminating on purpose, you can just show that the effect of what someone is doing is unfair to minorities.
The Supreme Court basically changed this part of the VRA so it isn't really true anymore. Some people on the Supreme Court said that the new map in Louisiana was made so that Democrats would win elections. Some judges disagreed, and they say that this new official decision will make it harder for minorities to get more political power and be represented in Congress as much as white people.
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Department of Health and Human Services
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Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) – The IACC has a new set of recommendations for HHS. On April 28, the panel sent a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., recommending four actions that the Department take to address gaps in care for people with autism spectrum disorder, focusing largely on co-occurring health conditions and the needs of “those with the highest and most persistent
support needs.” IACC held a meeting on April 28 as well—the first meeting under this Administration—where they voted to recommend the term “profound autism” as a research and policy designation to describe people with autism who have the highest support needs. This does not necessarily include people with autism who have an intellectual disability. The IACC’s definition of “profound autism” is:
Minimal or no functional speech, defined as non-speaking; or limited to single words or 2–3 word phrases used primarily for basic needs, wants, or protests; and/or with limited ability to engage in flexible, reciprocal, or generative communication — meaning spontaneous, non-prompted, and contextually varied communication exchange.
A need for continuous or near-continuous supervision to ensure safety and substantial assistance with activities of daily living to meet basic needs.
IACC recommended 8 core domains for inquiry: gastrointestinal and feeding; sleep; neurologic and seizure-related; regression and functional change; immune-, illness-, and allergy-relevant; safety risk domain, wandering and elopement; cardiometabolic; and motor, musculoskeletal, and praxis.
In its guidance, the panel acknowledged that Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) support for Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Programs and the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) workforce programs enable it to “support incorporation of this framework through workforce development, clinical education, autism-related training initiatives, maternal and child health efforts, continuing education, and related dissemination activities.”
IACC recommends that Secretary Kennedy direct HRSA and other relevant federal partners to incorporate the priorities they have laid out into LEND and DBP Programs. IACC also notes that CMS, CDC, and NIH can have roles in implementing their recommendations.
Key Takeaways
Disability advocates have been critical of the term “profound autism” and are concerned that it would split the autistic community into people who are seen as “high functioning” enough to live in the community, and people who are too “low functioning” to live in the community (to use other outdated terms). IACC did not give advocates very much time to weigh in on these proposed changes, releasing their memo with proposed recommendations only a few business days before their
meeting and after IACC had stopped accepting comments for this meeting. IACC then voted on these recommendations despite federal members of the committee expressing that they had not had enough time to review them. You can read the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s (ASAN) statement on the IACC meeting here.
Highlighting the role DBPs play in particular is interesting, considering the FY27 President’s Budget proposes eliminating the DBP program. AUCD will continue to monitor this moving forward to see if any new guidance is issued that could affect LENDs or DBPs.
Medicaid – Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator, is announcing his plan to crack down on alleged Medicaid fraud across the country. Last week, he sent letters to each state’s governor, telling
states they have 10 business days to tell CMS if they will commit to revalidating “high-risk” Medicaid providers and giving a 30-day deadline for states to provide their plans for how they will double check that Medicaid providers are not defrauding the program.
Dr. Oz also announced on April 30 that CMS would withhold $91 million in federal Medicaid funding to Minnesota. He said that the money was connected to suspicious medical claims, alleging that “$76 million was tied to 14 service categories highly vulnerable to fraud” and that CMS is asking Minnesota for more information before doling out the funding. Previously, the Administration cut $259 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota after an audit found unsupported or possibly fraudulent Medicaid
claims.
Key Takeaways
In his letters, Dr. Oz specifically asks states to relay how they will assess provider legitimacy for providers without a National Provider Identification (NPI) number. Many direct care workers are not required to have NPIs, so advocates see this as a direct focus on evaluating the legitimacy of direct care workers and CMS’ view of home care as high risk for fraud. While the plans are not mandatory, the way that CMS has withheld multiple tranches of Medicaid funding for Minnesota could
be a factor for states concerned that their federal Medicaid funding could be impacted by their engagement in these anti-fraud efforts. You can read more about HHS’ and Congressional Republicans’ views on Medicaid fraud in this previous issue of DPN.
Vaccines – HHS is withholding $600 million in Congressionally appropriated funding for Gavi, an international alliance that vaccinates children worldwide. Secretary Kennedy and HHS officials say that Gavi has not provided the U.S. with a specific plan for how its funds will be used. The Secretary has also said that a vaccine Gavi distributes that prevents diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough was causing brain injury. In January, it was reported that HHS had told Gavi that it would not send
funds until Gavi stopped using vaccines containing thimerosal, a preservative maligned by Secretary Kennedy and others in the anti-vaccine movement.
HHS is also appealing a federal judge’s order that froze some of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) vaccine policy changes. ACIP is still not able to make more rulings for the time being. You can read more about that ruling in this previous
issue of DPN.
Key Takeaways
The U.S. co-founded Gavi in 2000. It has bipartisan support in Congress – Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) have both expressed alarm that its funds have not been distributed.
Advocates estimate that tens of thousands of kids could die from vaccine-preventable diseases without this funding.
The U.S. used to contribute $300 million annually to Gavi, but HHS made the decision to stop that annual contribution in June 2025, per Secretary Kennedy’s direction. Now, Sec. Kennedy’s influence seems to extend to the State Department, which is in charge of Gavi’s funding. Politico reports, “In its 2027 budget request, the State Department said any future funding for Gavi for 2027 ‘is contingent on the organization making necessary reforms and meeting certain benchmarks on vaccine safety.’”
HHS Secretary Kennedy has made reshaping vaccine policy a pillar of his policy priorities since he began his tenure at HHS. This includes changing the makeup of various committees and staff at HHS, including ACIP. In doing this, he is able to make policy changes based on his long-held belief that vaccines are mostly unsafe because they lead to developmental disabilities like autism or chronic illness like allergies, despite the lack of credible evidence to prove these points. Thimerosal in particular has been a target of the anti-vaccine movement for decades, despite the fact that it is safe for use.
Surgeon General – On April 30, President Trump withdrew his nomination of Casey Means for Surgeon General and announced his new nominee, Nicole Saphier. Means’ nomination had been controversial for both Democrats and Republicans in advocacy groups and in Congress. Some saw her as too anti-vaccine for the post and others felt she wasn’t skeptical enough of vaccines and mainstream science. Others were also concerned that she had promoted use of psychedelics. The new nominee will need to be considered and confirmed by the Senate before she can hold the position.
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Plain Language |
The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) – The IACC is a group in the government that helps the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary make decisions about autism policy. This committee works with many people across the whole federal government to give out information about autism. On April 28, IACC had a meeting. They are supposed to give the public enough time to send in comments, but they didn't tell anyone what they were going to meet about until just a few days before. By the time they sent this information out, they were not taking public comments for the meeting anymore, so people couldn't give any feedback. This is not supposed to happen.
The IACC voted to decide that researchers and policymakers should look into "profound autism." They made an official definition for "profound autism."
Here is some information from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network about this decision:
Saying some autistic people have “profound autism” hurts the autistic community. It splits up the autistic community into people who are “profound” and “not profound”. Usually when people talk about “profoundly autistic” people, they mean:
autistic people who need a lot of support every day
autistic people with intellectual disabilities.
nonspeaking autistic people
This is the same way autistic people get split up using functioning labels, like “low functioning” and “high functioning”. Functioning labels hurt autistic people. To read more about functioning labels, click here.
The people who want to split the autistic community are not doing it because of what science says. They are doing it because of what they believe about our rights. They think that “profoundly autistic” people are too disabled to have rights. And they think “not profoundly autistic” people are not disabled enough to get the services and supports they need.
Because functioning labels hurt people with disabilities, many advocates do not agree with IACC’s decision.
IACC also said that the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Programs and the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) programs are important to helping look more into autism and helping people get jobs where they support autistic people. This is interesting because the President's Budget got rid of funding for the DBPs.
Medicaid – Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator, is announcing his plan to look into fraud across the country. Fraud is when someone pretends to be someone or does something so they can get money. The Administration has said that there is a lot of Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Dr. Oz sent letters to each state’s governor. He said states have to tell CMS whether or not they are going to re-check providers in their state to make sure they are not committing fraud. If states agree, they then have to send CMS their plans for how they will double check that Medicaid providers are not committing fraud.
The President and his Administration have talked a lot about how they think there is a lot of fraud in Medicaid. Many Republican Members of Congress have talked about this too. Advocates are worried that the Administration is using fraud as an excuse to take Medicaid away from people and spend less on it. The Administration cut off millions of Medicaid dollars to Minnesota earlier this year when they found examples of fraud there, so people are worried that the Administration will do the same thing to other states. On April 30, Dr. Oz said that the Administration would not give Minnesota $91 million that the state was expecting to get for Medicaid. He said there were more problems with fraud in Minnesota.
People are also worried because the Administration is saying some things about how caregivers and people who provide direct care services and home care might be fraud. Some states might go along with CMS' work on fraud because they are worried that CMS will not give them Medicaid money, like it is doing in Minnesota. You can read more about HHS’ and Congressional Republicans’ views on Medicaid fraud in this previous issue of DPN.
Vaccines – Gavi is an organization that is made up of a lot of different countries. It helps children get vaccines all around the world. Congress decided to give Gavi $600 million last year but now, HHS Secretary Kennedy told another government department not to give Gavi that money. The State Department is in charge of this money, but Secretary Kennedy has a lot of power in the government, and he told this other department that they can't give money to Gavi until Gavi makes some changes to its vaccines.
The U.S. helped to create Gavi in 2000. Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have supported it. Recently, Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-New Hampshire) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) both said they were upset that the U.S. has not been giving money to Gavi. The U.S. usually gives $300 million to Gavi every year. Last year, Secretary Kennedy said the U.S. would stop giving money to Gavi. He has said that the U.S. will start giving money to Gavi again if they stop using vaccines with thimerosal in them. Thimerosal helps vaccines stay effective for a long time so they will still work even after they have been stored in pharmacies, doctor’s offices, and hospitals for a while. Even though there isn’t evidence that proves it, Secretary Kennedy says that
thimerosal in vaccines has harmed many people and hurt brain development in children. He says that more people have autism because they got flu shots with thimerosal in them. This isn’t true. Vaccines do not cause autism. People might not get vaccines if they are scared vaccines will make them disabled. If people don’t get vaccines, they are more likely to get sick from diseases.
HHS is also appealing a federal judge’s order. When you appeal a judge's decision, you are trying to change that decision. The judge decided that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) went against the law and made vaccine policy changes against the law. The judge stopped the vaccine policy changes from happening and told ACIP they can't do any work. ACIP is still not able to make more decisions for the time being. You can read more about this in this previous issue of DPN.
Surgeon General – President Trump changed his mind about who he wants to be the Surgeon General. Before, President Trump chose Casey Means to be the Surgeon General. The Surgeon General gives Americans advice on how to make their health better and not get sick or hurt. There were many Senators who were not sure that Casey Means would be good at this job. Some Senators and advocates thought she was anti-vaccine. Some thought she wasn’t anti-vaccine enough. Other people were worried that she wasn’t against certain drugs. The President decided to choose someone else to be Surgeon General. This person is Nicole Saphier. The new nominee will need to meet with the Senate and Senators will need to vote for her before she can be Surgeon
General.
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Department of Education
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Appropriations Hearing – On April 28, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Subcommittee held a hearing on the FY27 President’s Budget request for the Department of Education. Education Secretary Linda McMahon was the sole witness. Members on both sides of the aisle—including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins
(R-ME)—expressed concern that the President’s Budget proposes to cut funding to K-12 programs and eliminate the TRIO Programs, which supports low-income, first-generation students and people with disabilities from middle school through college. Members also raised issues around the slashing of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), support for rural students, and student loan forgiveness.
Sanders Report – On April 28, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released a new report on the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in the Education Department under President Trump. The report found that OCR has reached very few resolution agreements for students facing discrimination and traumatic incidents at school, including seclusion and restraint. The report says that the Education Department under President Trump “has been the
least productive in over a decade—reaching in 2025 the lowest number of resolution agreements in 12 years”.
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Key Takeaways |
In the Appropriations hearing, Secretary McMahon defended the Department’s record on special education, saying that IDEA programs are slated to receive a $500 million dollar increase in the President’s Budget. However, advocates say that this increase comes with consolidation of various programs, potential erosion of IDEA and civil rights protections, and funding cuts in other areas of the education system that will
surely affect students with disabilities and their families.
Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) pushed Secretary McMahon on the Department’s efforts to dismantle the Department by offloading its work to other agencies through Interagency Agreements (IAAs). She argued that the IAAs split up the work of offices, making them less efficient and complicating their engagement with states and school districts.
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) expressed concern about the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and other programs that support students with disabilities being moved out of the Department. She told the Secretary that she’d heard from many parents, advocates, and teachers, who are concerned that the Department is considering moving IDEA programs out of the Department as well. The Secretary said that the Administration is still considering moving those programs to the Departments of Labor or Health and Human Services. A breakdown of Senator Murray’s questioning can be found here.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) talked about a constituent of his whose autistic child, in sixth grade, had been restrained and secluded for a significant period. The family brought their case to OCR, but heard that their case had ended when the OCR office in Chicago was closed. Senator Murphy said OCR is now only proceeding with cases because parents sued the agency and it was found to be in violation of the law.
Senator Murphy’s line of questioning
reflected similar issues that Senator Sanders’ report brought up. Senator Murphy pointed out that the President’s Budget proposes a 35 percent reduction in funding to OCR while the office attempts to manage a significant backlog of cases; at the same time, Secretary McMahon alleges that the Department is trying to improve the issues came about when they laid off OCR employees by bringing many of those people back. According to Senator Sanders’ report, students with disabilities’ complaints make up the largest share of OCR cases. His report found that “OCR reached 78.7% fewer disability discrimination resolution agreements in 2025 (83) compared to 2024 (390).”
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Plain Language |
On April 28, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Subcommittee held a hearing on the FY27 President’s Budget request for the Department of Education. Education Secretary Linda McMahon joined to talk about what the Department is doing. Democrat and Republican Members of Congress (including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine)) said they were upset and worried that the Administration wants to cut funding for programs that help students in Kindergarten through 12th grade. They were also very upset that the Administration wants to get rid of the TRIO Programs. The TRIO Programs help a lot
of students who don't have a lot of money go to college. It also helps students with disabilities.
In the Appropriations hearing, Secretary McMahon said that IDEA programs were going to get $500 million more than usual. However, advocates say that this increase doesn't mean much. They say that the Administration is combining and cutting special education programs and other programs that could affect students with disabilities.
Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) talked about Interagency Agreements (IAAs). IAAs are a way that the Department of Education is moving some of their offices and programs to other government departments. Senator Baldwin said that IAAs are splitting up some offices and making it very confusing for states and schools to get information or support.
Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington) talked about how the Administration is moving the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and other programs that support students with disabilities out of the Department. The RSA helps people with disabilities get the right training so that they can be employed. She told the Secretary that she’d heard from many parents, advocates, and teachers, who are worried that the Department is thinking about moving IDEA programs out of the Department as well. The Secretary said that the Administration is still considering moving those programs to the Departments of Labor or Health and Human Services. You can read more about what Senator Murray asked the Secretary here.
Office of Civil Rights: During the Appropriations hearing, Senator Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) talked about someone in Connecticut who has an autistic child in sixth grade who was treated badly at school. The student had been restrained and secluded, which means she was put in a room by herself and put in something that stopped her from moving for a while. The family came to OCR to make an official complaint and start a case to get justice for their child. But when OCR fired many people and closed the OCR office in Chicago, their case ended. Senator Murphy said OCR is now only continuing with that case because parents forced the agency to do it by filing a lawsuit. A lawsuit is when you go to a judge and ask them to change something that someone else is
doing. Secretary McMahon said that OCR is trying to fix these problems and trying to hire back the people it fired before. However, the Administration is trying to cut a big chunk of OCR’s budget.
Recently, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) released a new report about OCR under President Trump. The report found that OCR has not been finishing their cases. They are supposed to be making sure that students who were discriminated against get justice. Discriminated means being treated badly because of who you are. However, OCR is not finishing these cases. The report says that the Education Department under President Trump “has been the least productive in over a decade” which means it has done the least work in 2025 than it has in more than 10 years.
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Department of Justice ADA Rules
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Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it would delay implementation of a web accessibility rule by a year. The rule, which DOJ finalized in 2024, establishes requirements for websites and mobile apps under Title II the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The rule would require state and local government entities (such as hospitals and schools) to ensure what they publish online is accessible to
people with disabilities. When the rule was finalized, DOJ gave state and local governments in areas with populations of 50,000 or greater until April 24, 2026 to comply. DOJ is now extending that deadline (through an interim final rule) so that governments representing more than 50,000 people will have until April 26, 2027, while the deadline for smaller public entities will shift to April 26, 2028.
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Key Takeaways |
Disability advocates have pointed out that state and local governments have had ample time to update their web accessibility, and extending the compliance deadline will mean that people with disabilities will continue to face barriers to accessing government information and services. The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) writes that “[a]s more and more government services, from public benefits applications to emergency alert notifications to voter information, move exclusively online, inaccessible government websites are not a minor inconvenience. They are a barrier to the full participation of people with disabilities in society.”
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Plain Language |
Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) made an announcement about a rule to make state and local governments make things accessible online. This rule was originally made in 2024 and it said that state and local governments that are in charge of places where there are 50,000 or more people have until April 24, 2026 to make their websites accessible to people with disabilities. The DOJ changed their mind last week. They said these governments have until April 26, 2027 to make things accessible. This is a big change because it is one more year that many government websites (including websites for some public schools or hospitals) will not be availiabe for people with
disabilities, which is not fair. Here are some statements from disability organizations:
American Council of the Blind
American Association of People with Disabilities
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New Legislation
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The HCBS Access Act (H.R.8540)
Introduced by Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI)
Would expand access to HCBS for older adults and people with disabilities by putting HCBS on equal footing with institutional care and increasing Medicaid funding for HCBS
You can read Rep. Dingell’s press release here and leading co-sponsor Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s (D-IL) press release here.
The Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act (H.R.8541)
Introduced by Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI)
Would increase the number of direct care professionals, improve compensation of direct care professionals, and improve access and quality of long-term care
You can read Rep. Dingell’s press release here.
H.R.8552
Introduced by Representative Morgan Luttrell (R-TX)
Would increase rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans
The Living Wage for All Act (H.R.8555)
Introduced by Representative Delia Ramirez (D-IL)
Would raise the federal minimum wage to $25 per hour and eliminate all subminimum wages
You can read Rep. Ramirez’s press release here.
The Funding Early Childhood is the Right IDEA Act (H.R.8465)
The Social Security Caregiver Credit Act (H.R.8490) (S.4396)
Introduced by Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Would provide up to five years of credits credit for caregivers who spend at least 80 hours per month providing care to a dependent relative
You can read Rep. Schneider’s press release here and Senator Murphy’s press release here.
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Plain Language |
There are a few new bills in the U.S. Congress.
The HCBS Access Act would help more people with disabilities and older adults get access to home and community-based services.
The Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act would help more people become direct support workers and give them better pay.
A bill to give veterans more money if they got a disability from serving in the military. A veteran is a person who was in the military but now is not.
The Living Wage for All Act would increase the minimum wage and get rid of subminimum wages. The minimum wage is the lowest amount of money an employer can pay an employee. Subminimum wages are wages that are less than the minimum wage and only allowed if employers get a special certificate.
The Funding Early Childhood is the Right IDEA Act would give money to a part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs.
The Social Security Caregiver Credit Act would help caregivers get some money when they retire (stop working).
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AUCD Story Collection |
AUCD is collecting stories from the Network on a variety of topics to amplify the effects of this Administration on real people and our programs. If you have a story, we want to hear it.
We are interested in stories about:
Medicaid and its impact on people's lives
The impact of dismantling ACL
The important work of UCEDDs, LENDs, IDDRCs, PNS’s, DD Councils, P&As
The impact of zeroing out UCEDDs, LENDs, IDDRCs, PNS’s, DD Councils, P&As
Impact of grants that are being cut
Stories responding to RFK Jr.’s claims about autism or the autism registry
You can use this link to provide information and let us know if you are comfortable sharing your story with Members of Congress and their staff.
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AUCD Policy Blog
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AUCD invites Network members to fill out this form if you’re interested in writing for the AUCD policy blog. We are open to a variety of issues areas, and we will follow up with you as relevant issues come up that we’d like you to write about.
Read our newest blog from Cobey Meyer on his IPSE experience.
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Disability Policy for All with Liz |
Join Liz on Instagram Reels, where she provides plain language updates on policy, highlighting current issues and hot topics in federal disability policy.
Liz Weintraub is AUCD's Senior Advocacy Specialist and the host of “Disability Policy for All with Liz.” She has extensive experience practicing leadership in self-advocacy and has held many board and advisory positions at state and national organizations, including the Council on Quality & Leadership (CQL) and the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council.
Watch Liz’s recent video on ABLE Bills.
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Words to Know
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Discrimination
This means to treat someone badly because of who they are.
Lawsuit
When you file a lawsuit, you are asking a judge or court to change something that someone else is doing or stop them from doing it.
Restraint and Seclusion
Restraint is when you are put in something that stops you from moving. Seclusion is when you are put somewhere by yourself.
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