AAPD Advocacy Agenda for 2003
March 2003

AAPD works to promote the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the public policy arena: equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency. When these goals are held up against the reality of life for the more than 56 million children and adults with disabilities in the U.S., it is clear that we have much work to do.

As President Bush noted when he announced his New Freedom Initiative for people with disabilities shortly after taking office, only about one in three adults with significant disabilities is working, and less than one in three children receiving special education graduates with a regular high school diploma. With States facing their largest budget deficits since World War II and the federal government struggling to balance the national budget, many of the programs that serve people with disabilities (especially Medicaid) have been targeted for budget cuts.

AAPD is working with the 108th Congress to promote bi-partisan legislation and policy that will further the ability of people with disabilities to live independently, contribute to society, pursue meaningful careers, enjoy self-determination, make choices and enjoy integration into the economic, political, social, cultural and educational mainstream of American society. In the 2003 session, Congress will have the opportunity to reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Workforce Investment Act (including Title IV, which authorizes the Rehabilitation Act), the Higher Education Act, and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century.

Other national issues that will affect the ability of people with disabilities and their families to realize their goals include the economic stimulus package, Medicare and Medicaid reform, low-income housing policy, welfare reform and legislation regulating the application of new technologies ranging from broadband to digital television to genetics.

AAPD worked hard in the last Congress to ensure that the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) included funding and requirements for improving the accessibility of polling places and election systems, so that disabled voters would be able to vote as independently as other voters. AAPD is working with this Congress and State and local officials to ensure that the accessibility requirements in HAVA are fully funded and implemented.

In the civil rights arena, AAPD will work with Congress to restore civil rights protections to individuals who have lost protections as a result of recent Supreme Court decisions narrowing the application of the ADA, and will work on passing new legislation protecting individuals against discrimination on the basis of genetic information. AAPD is also working to implement the Olmstead Supreme Court decision and pass the Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act so that individuals who need assistance with activities of daily living are not forced into nursing homes or other institutional settings when they prefer to live in the community.

Ultimately, AAPD hopes to protect programs that empower children and adults with disabilities and realign programs and policies that erect barriers to full participation.

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