Print Friendly VersionFebruary 2008, Issue 122
Monthly News Bulletin Published by IndependenceFirst
Advocacy Action News
February 2008, Issue 122
NATIONAL
WISCONSIN
LOCAL
ADA/FAIR HOUSING
RESOURCES ON THE NET
ANNOUNCEMENTS
VOTE!
People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing.” ~Walter H. Judd
When you become active in the system and communicate to your representatives, and they don't vote in accordance with your values, your responsibility is to support candidates who will.” ~Joan Blades
ELECTION NEWS
February 19th is a primary election, which is a means of reducing the candidate pools to two candidates per office (unless unopposed). In Wisconsin, people who vote in a primary election may only pick candidates from ONE political party.
The outcome of the Primary Election determines who will be on the ballot for the Spring General Election, to be held April 1st.
FROM THE WISCONSIN JOURNAL SENTINEL:
The spring contests for state Supreme Court justice, Milwaukee County executive, Milwaukee mayor and Milwaukee city attorney will all be two-way races, as other possible candidates either dropped out or failed to file nomination papers by the deadline.
In the only statewide contest, incumbent Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler will face Burnett County Circuit Judge Mike Gableman to fill a 10-year term in what is expected to be a hotly contested race.
Other incumbents facing challengers for major offices include Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, opposed by state Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee); Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, opposed by attorney Andrew Shaw; and Milwaukee City Attorney Grant Langley, opposed by state Rep. Pedro Colón (D-Milwaukee).
In the suburbs, mayoral races in West Allis, Wauwatosa, Franklin, Muskego, Delafield, West Bend and Burlington top the ballot.
Supreme Court
Sun Prairie attorney Charlie Schutze had planned to run against Butler and Gableman, but Schutze dropped out for medical reasons. That means no primary will be needed.
Butler, 55, of Milwaukee, is the state's first and only African-American Supreme Court justice. Gableman, 41, of Webster, is aiming to be the first candidate to defeat an incumbent Supreme Court justice in more than 40 years.
Milwaukee County
County Executive: Three of the announced candidates for Walker's job failed to file the necessary signatures to get on the ballot, eliminating the need for a primary.
Walker, who won his office after the county pension scandal in 2002, is seeking his second full term, re-emphasizing efforts to streamline county operations and hold down costs. Taylor has faulted Walker's efforts to clean up the county's pension system and says she'll be a better advocate for the county with the Legislature.
County Board: All 19 Milwaukee County Board seats are on the spring ballot, with 10 incumbents facing no challengers. Primaries will be needed in five races, including three in which incumbent Supervisors Richard Nyklewicz Jr., Roger Quindel and Dan Devine are not running for re-election.
Milwaukee Mayor: Four years after winning a 10-person contest for the job, Barrett faces smooth sailing to re-election. Several high-profile officials, including Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., a frequent critic, considered runs, but ultimately passed on challenging Barrett. That left Shaw as the only challenger on the ballot.
Milwaukee City Attorney: Langley is seeking a seventh term, but faces a challenger for only the second time since his election in 1984.
Colón has mounted an aggressive campaign framed around making the job more active in fighting crime and taking on an advocacy role for the city, including pushing the Legislature to change laws where needed. Langley has positioned himself as "a lawyer, not a politician" and says he'll fight as he did in his first race on a platform of keeping politics out of the job.
Milwaukee Common Council: The most crowded aldermanic race is in the 6th District, where jailed Ald. Michael McGee is mounting a re-election bid from behind bars and faces 10 challengers, including former Ald. Fred Gordon and School Board member Charlene Hardin.
Former Ald. Rosa Cameron filed papers, then vowed to run a write-in campaign after Election Commission Executive Director Sue Edman said she won't be on the ballot because she's a convicted felon. If McGee survives the primary, but is found guilty, his name might not appear on the April 1 ballot, either.
Another big race is in the east side 3rd District, where longtime Ald. Mike D'Amato is stepping down and nine candidates are vying to succeed him. And the south side 12th District features a rematch between Ald. Jim Witkowiak and former Ald. Angel Sanchez, who ousted Witkowiak in 2000, only to fall to him in 2004.
Of the 15 incumbent aldermen, 12 are being challenged for re-election, with primaries needed in nine races.
Suburban Mayors: Five mayoral seats are up for grabs, including those in the two largest communities.
Mayors Jeannette Bell of West Allis and Theresa Estness of Wauwatosa are stepping down. Devine, the outgoing Milwaukee County supervisor, will face Ald. Linda A. Dobrowski and two lesser-known candidates in West Allis. Former Common Council President Jerry Stepaniak will face freshman Ald. Jill Didier to succeed Estness.
The mayor's race in Franklin is likely to be heated as former Ald. Basil Ryan, who was ousted in a recall in 2003, attempts to unseat incumbent Tom Taylor.
Ozaukee County
Only four of 31 County Board seats will be contested.
Washington County
Incumbent West Bend Mayor Kristine Deiss will face challengers Michael Christian and Christopher Jenkins.
Waukesha County
Delafield: Controversy over the firing of City Administrator Matt Carlson has sparked intense interest in the mayoral race, with a former mayor, Ed McAleer, seeking to oust Phil Schuman, who ran unopposed two years ago. A third candidate is Adam Fritsch.
Muskego: Mayor John Johnson is facing a challenge from former Ald. Nancy Salentine and Thomas A. Bureta.
County Board: The newly downsized board will be formed through 10 contested races and 15 other candidates running unopposed. The board is downsizing from 35 seats to 25 seats.
NATIONAL
NCD RELEASES NATIONAL DISABILITY STATUS REPORT
The National Council on Disability (NCD) released its annual report, National Disability Policy: A Progress Report noting progress where it has occurred and making further recommendations where necessary to the executive and legislative branches of the Federal Government.
NCD is an independent federal agency and is composed of 15 members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. NCD provides advice to the President, Congress, and executive branch agencies to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that—
(A) guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability; and
(B) empower individuals with disabilities to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society.
For more information, please contact NCD’s director of external affairs Mark S. Quigley at mquigley@ncd.gov or by telephone at 202-272-2004 (V/Relay).
NCD MAKES RECOMMENDATIONS
On December 10, the National Council on Disability (NCD) made recommendations to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for potential civil rights projects to be conducted in 2010. Those recommendations include:
o Evaluate the long-term effects of, and effective alternatives to, the use of electric shock on people with behavior problems as a form of behavior modification (www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/09/school_of_shock.html);
o Identify effective interventions to reduce the high drop-out rates of high school students with disabilities;
o Evaluate the accessibility, or lack thereof, of Workforce Investment Act One Stop centers;
o Identify best and promising practices of faith-based initiatives serving people with disabilities; and
o Identify effective in-community treatment alternatives to involuntary institutionalization for people with mental illness.
In addition, during its Boston quarterly meeting, the Council voted in favor of NCD taking a supportive position requiring equal access to American currency. The board also voted to send a letter to President Bush, asking that the Administration withdraw its appeal and move to ensure that American currency becomes accessible.
NCD also unanimously approved a motion in support of the Crime Victims with Disabilities Act of 2007 (CVWD). NCD is gratified that Senate Bill 2237, the Crime Control and Prevention Act, which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary on October 25, includes Title IX, Subtitle A, the CVWD. NCD is committed to the same goals espoused in the CVWD.
NCD, along with its partners, calls for expanded research to establish the prevalence and impact of crime against persons with disabilities. The statement also calls for greater public education to raise awareness about the circumstances and needs of persons with disabilities who have been victimized by crime; public policy changes that integrate crime victims with disabilities and their needs into the current framework of federal, state, and local services; increased access to programs and services that will help crime victims with disabilities rebuild their lives; and a national leadership forum that will serve as a unifying and proactive voice for crime victims with disabilities.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction due to apathy, indifference and undernourishment.” ~Robert M. Hutchins
SCHOOL GETS EXTENSION ON SHOCK TREATMENT
A special education school in Boston, MA, where two “emotionally disturbed” students were wrongly given dozens of shocks after a prank call will be allowed to use electric shock treatments on students for another year.
But the state's Office of Health and Human Services said the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center must prove it uses shock treatments only for the most dangerous and self-destructive behaviors, and also show that the treatments reduce those behaviors.
On Aug. 26, someone posing as a supervisor called in shock treatments on two students, aged 16 and 19. The teens were awakened in the middle of the night and given the shock treatments, at times while their legs and arms were bound. One teen received 77 shocks and the other received 29. One was treated for two first-degree burns.
The six staff members and video surveillance worker on duty that night were fired on Oct. 1.
The incident renewed calls by school critics for the state to ban the shock treatments. But state officials said the parents of some residents defend the school and its methods.
COMMUNICATIONS AND VIDEO ACCESSIBILITY ACT
On December 21, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives released a draft bill, the long-awaited “Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.” It proposes to amend the Communications Act – the main statute that impacts the telephone and video programming industries – to add new consumer protections that will ensure people with disabilities do not get left out or left behind as telephones and television programming increasingly rely on digital and Internet Protocol (IP) technologies.
NATIONAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND ACT
The National Housing Trust Fund Campaign, coordinated by the National Low Income Housing Coalition along with more than 5,600 endorsers across the country, welcomes the introduction of legislation in the U.S. Senate to establish a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund (NHTF), which will address the serious housing needs of millions of households.
The bill was introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) with the tripartisan co-sponsorship of Senators Olympia Snow (R-ME), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Pete Domenici (R-NM), and Charles Schumer (D-NY), a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
The bill will establish a dedicated funding source for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of 1.5 million affordable homes in 10 years. At least 75% of the funds will be for housing for households that are extremely low income, earning less than 30% of an area's median income.
On October 10, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, by a strong bipartisan vote of 264-148. The bill was introduced by House Committee on Financial Services Chair Barney Frank (D-MA) with 16 bipartisan cosponsors on June 28. The Senate and House bills are nearly identical.
The need for a National Housing Trust Fund is well documented. Nationwide, there are only 6,187,000 homes renting at prices affordable to the 9,022,000 extremely low income renter households - a shortage of 2,835,000 homes. Not a single Congressional district has enough rental housing affordable and available to extremely low income families. Housing is considered affordable if it costs no more than 30% of household income.
More information about the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign can be found at www.nhtf.org.
WISCONSIN
BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR PCWs
Rep. Kitty Rhoades and Senator Tim Carpenter are co-sponsoring a proposal which will require personal care worker agencies that employ caregivers who are providing care in a residence to disclose to the patients receiving care (or their guardians) the results of a criminal background check.
Currently, personal care worker agencies that employ personal care workers (pcw’s) are required to conduct criminal background checks. However, this information is not disclosed to the individuals receiving pcw care in their homes. Instead, the agencies employing pcw’s have discretion as to whether something on the pcw’s record “substantially relates to the care of a client.” This bill would require an agency employing a pcw to disclose criminal background information to the person receiving care, or their guardian.
The bill also requires personal care worker agencies to obtain updated background information regarding its caregivers every two years.
MENTAL HEALTH PARITY
SB 375 was introduced on January 4, and was referred to the Committee on Health, Human Services, Insurance, and Job Creation. This bill proposes to change the existing insurance statutes to require mental health parity (not just an adjustment in the minimum mandated coverage).
February 20th is Mental Health Parity Action Day in Madison at the Capitol.
There will be a welcoming and training session in the morning followed by a lunch. In the afternoon participants will head over to the Capitol for scheduled meetings with legislators. To sign up please register at:
http://ltgov.wisconsin.gov/issues_view.asp?issueid=6&locid=126
KRUSICK BILLS INTRODUCED
Rep Peggy Krusick (D-Milwaukee) has introduced a bill that would require driver identification for specialized medical vehicles and vehicles transporting elderly or persons with disabilities. Assembly Bill 665 has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Transportation.
Rep Krusick also introduced a bill that would authorize access by the long-term care ombudsman or his or her representative to a client or resident in a residential care apartment
complex and impose an annual assessment on certain occupied apartments of residential care apartment complexes. In addition, the bill expands rights of residents of facilities to include residents of residential care apartment complexes. Assembly Bill 664 has been referred to the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long Term Care.
LOCAL
MILWAUKEE COUNTY ESD OVERWHELMED
Milwaukee County's Economic Support Division has been overwhelmed with a record number of people seeking public assistance and doesn't have the staff to deal with the crush.
For those seeking services, that means they wait. On the phone. At the office. And they sometimes go without benefits for longer than they should, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The county's budget for administering its income assistance program has shrunk by about $1.7 million, or 10%, since 2002, according to the state. But the number of people seeking food stamps has risen by about 10.5%.
• About 1 million calls are attempted each month to the agency's hotline, but less than 10% are answered. Many times, the line is simply busy. Only 14 or 15 people staff the call center each day.
• People seeking benefits wait five to seven hours in the crowded welfare office at N. 12th and W. Vliet streets. Sometimes they don't get what they need and have to return the next day.
• Although federal law requires that benefit applications be processed within 30 days, Milwaukee County misses the mark about 20% of the time.
Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services knows it has a problem and is trying to fix it. The department is planning a modernization initiative that would allow people to handle their cases over the Internet and the phone, according to Corey Hoze, director of the department of human services.
But the county must still deal with the fact that the number of workers handling public assistance cases has been cut by one-third since 2002 - to about 200 people - in the economic support division. The county said the cuts came as a result of reductions at the state level.
The state mandates that Milwaukee County run the local public assistance programs, and it provides about a $16.5 million annual budget.
That is about $2.6 million less than in 2002, said Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, after subtracting additional funding for new programs mandated by the state.
Walker said his office has used nearly $2 million in local property tax money to plug holes for the county public assistance programs.
The state's Department of Health and Family Services said it is trying to help Milwaukee County become more efficient in processing applications by training workers and adding more online services. But somehow, the county must improve its operations, the state says.
The state added a provision for 2008 that requires the county to process 95% of people's applications within 30 days.
If the county doesn't eventually meet that mark, the state could withhold funding for the entire program, said Stephanie Marquis, a spokeswoman for the state.
ADA/FAIR HOUSING
NAD FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST WASHINGTON MUTUAL, INC.
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) filed a complaint on December 6, 2007 with the U.S. Department of Justice against Washington Mutual, Inc. (WaMu). The complaint alleges that WaMu refused to allow a deaf individual to apply for a credit card when calling through a video relay service (VRS) in violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The complaint alleges that a WaMu supervisor said that WaMu policy is not to accept credit card applications made through VRS calls.
The ADA established nationwide telecommunications relay services for use by people who are deaf or hard of hearing or who have a speech disability that are functionally equivalent to telephone services used by people without disabilities. VRS is a telecommunications relay service. “Businesses that accept credit card applications by telephone must accept credit card applications made through a relay service,” said Marc Charmatz, senior attorney with the NAD Law and Advocacy Center.”
RESOURCES ON THE NET
DISABILITY LAW PODCAST
On January 9, the first episode of the “Disability Law Lowdown” podcast series became available for free download on both iTunes and the Disability Law Lowdown website at http://dll.ada-podcast.com. The Disability Law Lowdown podcasts will deliver the latest in disability law information every other week. Listeners can subscribe to the podcasts to have shows automatically delivered to them. The podcasts are also available on the DLL website, where transcripts of the shows are simultaneously available.
The hosts for the Disability Law Lowdown are Lex Frieden and Jacquie Brennan. Reporters from around the country will bring listeners the latest information about disability rights, disability case law updates, obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other disability-related topics. During 2008, Disability Law Lowdown will begin offering podcasts in both Spanish and American Sign Language.
PLANET THRIVE
This website is for those whose health has already started to reflect the health of the environment they live in, who are starting to make the connections, and want to do something about it. In particular, they focus on Environmental Illness, a class of conditions that are poorly understood and that conventional medicine has been slow to study and treat. These include Lyme Disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Chemical Sensitivity, and Mold Illness.
www.PlanetThrive.com
2008 ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY ON-LINE SEMINARS
The DBTAC-Great Lakes ADA Center is sponsoring a new on-line seminar series on accessible technology in 2008. The goal of the series is to increase awareness on technology accessibility for people with disabilities. Each
session will be held from 1:00pm-2:00pm Central Time.
This on-line series will utilize an internet based conferencing system. The Online Conferencing System is a fully accessible integrated data and voice medium that enables users to conduct workshops over the internet from just about any computer with a network connection and web browser. Participation is enhanced with use of a personal microphone.
The seminar series is free, but pre-registration is required. Please e-mail jpete@uic.edu to register for a session or for more information and/or questions.
Schedule is as follows:
2/11/08 - State Laws Addressing Accessibility
3/3/08 - Web Accessibility for Students with Disabilities
5/19/08 - Accessible Computer Applications
8/11/08 ADA and Website Accessibility
9/29/08 Learning and Accessibility
ANNOUNCEMENTS
HEALTH AND HOUSING INFORMATION AVAILABLE BY EMAIL. The Alliance for Healthy Homes offers an email newsletter and two listserves – Leadnet and Healthyhomesnet – for discussion of environmental health hazards in substandard housing and distressed communities. Visit http://www.afhh.org for more information or to subscribe.
WEBSITE TO TRACK HOUSING ISSUES IN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Housing2008.org site offers information about the presidential candidates’ views on housing issues and a nonpartisan forum for discussing housing issues. Visit http://www.housing2008.org or email info@housing2008.org.
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