Public Policy Update (as of March 15, 2024)

STATE 

Legislature  

The short session is scheduled to begin April 24, 2024. The short session is designed primarily for review and adjustments to the two-year budget that was approved last session. With the elections coming up, the expectation is that this session will be quick. One critical area of focus for advocates is to increase the funding allocated last session for direct support professional (DSP) wage increases. As a reminder, $60 million was included in the budget which fell short of the $90 million needed to achieve the targeted increases. Continuing education and advocacy around the waitlist is also a critical topic.  

While the session has not yet started, the Legislative Oversight Committees (LOC) are meeting. Both LOC on Health and Humans Services and the LOC on Medicaid met in March and plan to meet again in April.   

Tailored Plans   

Tailored Plans are scheduled to roll out July 1, 2024.  The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is continuing readiness reviews of the four LME-MCOs who will be operating the Tailored Plan. System testing, reviewing operation of call centers, and evaluating the provider network are all part of the reviews. Based on the reviews, DHHS will make a recommendation in early April as to whether the Tailored Plans should begin in July as scheduled or be delayed.  

FEDERAL  

Budget 

The fourth continuing resolution (CR) for FY 2024 (October 2023 - September 2024) allowed the government to continue operations under the last fiscal year budget amounts. The first set of appropriations bills that were scheduled to expire under the CR have now been funded through September. On Friday, March 8, the Senate cleared, by a 75-22 vote, full-year appropriations for fiscal year 2024 under a “minibus” for six appropriations bills: Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD. The House had passed the minibus on March 6. The President signed the measure.  

The second set of appropriations bills are scheduled to expire on Friday, March 22: Defense, Financial Services-General Government, Homeland Security, Labor-HHS-Education, Legislative Branch, and State-Foreign Operations. Under the agreement, leaders plan to complete full-year appropriations for the remaining bills by the end of the current CR. Many of the funds that support people with intellectual or other developmental disabilities (I/DD) are in this second set of bills. Getting this second package of appropriations through Congress is expected to be more contentious. I/DD advocates are hopeful that 2023 funding levels can be maintained, but there will be pressure for budget reductions in this second set.  Once this is approved, Congress can move on to focus on next year’s appropriations bills.  

Update as of March 23, 2024: On Saturday March 23, President Biden signed a $1.2 trillion government funding bill which prevented a government shutdown. This came after the House passed legislation on Friday, and the bill passed the Senate early Saturday morning. 

The legislation provides $1.2 trillion in funding for the departments of Defense, Homeland Security (DHS), Labor, Health and Human Services, State, as well as general government, financial services and foreign operations.The bills avoided the drastic cuts that were a concern for disability advocates. 

Looking ahead – President’s budget  

Biden used his State of the Union address in March to urge Congress to add funding for Medicaid home and community-based services. The president followed up on Monday by including $150 billion over 10 years “to strengthen and expand Medicaid home and community-based services” in his budget request for the 2025 fiscal year, which begins in October.  

Beyond requesting more investment in home and community-based services, Biden’s budget includes a $200 million increase in spending on special education services; $10 million to train special educators and early intervention providers; and funding to improve customer service at the Social Security Administration.  

The budget request is largely viewed as a wish list highlighting the president’s priorities. It will now be up to Congress to determine what will ultimately be included in the federal budget for the upcoming year.   

Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act 

This a bill that has support from both parties in the Senate and the House. The bill directs the Department of Labor to award grants to states and certain eligible entities to assist them in transforming their business and program models to support individuals with disabilities. It also phases out paying workers with disabilities subminimum wages.   

The National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD) is going to ask all DD Councils at its Disability Policy Seminar to focus on transition to competitive and integrated employment during their visits to Capitol Hill.     

Rule Making to Ensure People who Use Wheelchairs can Travel Safely on Airplanes   

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced proposed rules that would “ensure airline passengers who use wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity.” The new rules would set standards for prompt, safe, and dignified assistance, and require training for airline employees who assist passengers and handle wheelchairs. It would also define steps that airlines must take to protect passengers when a wheelchair is damaged. DOT is accepting comments on the proposed rule until April 28, 2024.