In a message dated 7/11/2013 9:52:57 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
bdarl...@cdrnys.org writes:
TAKE ACTION NOW!
CALL Senator Moran at (202) 224-6521. Tell the Senator's staff:
I am calling to support Senator Johanns' amendment in the Appropriations
Committee to the Department of Labor appropriation that would prevent the
Department of Labor from finalizing, implementing or enforcing changes to the
Companionship Exemption that would hurt people with disabilities and the
workers who provide us with services and supports to live independently in
the community! Please urge the Senator to support this amendment.
BACKGROUND:
The Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed changes in federal labor rules
that will hurt people with disabilities and attendants who support our
independence. These changes will most seriously impact people who have the
most
significant disabilities and rely on Medicaid services to live in the
community and their attendants.
In short, the proposed changes will:
- Force seniors and people with disabilities into institutions;
- Cut the take-home pay of attendants;
- Reduce the attendant workforce;
- Force people with disabilities to cut the hours of trusted attendants
and bring strangers into their homes; and
- Devastate consumer directed attendant programs.
Many national disability organizations -- including ADAPT, the National
Council on Independent Living (NCIL), and the National Council on Disability
(NCD) -- have raised concerns about these proposed changes and urged the
Department of Labor to work with the disability community to resolve them.
Instead of acknowledging the issue and working with the Disability Community
to resolve it, the Department of Labor has continued to push ahead with
these changes. (You can learn more about this issue at _www.DOLoffMYbody.org_
(http://www.doloffmybody.org/) )
TODAY, Senator Johanns will be submitting an amendment to the Department
of Labor's appropriation that prevents DOL from finalizing, implementing or
enforcing these changes until concerns about the proposed rules have been
addressed.
SO PLEASE TAKE ACTION, call Senator Moran at (202) 224-6521 and tell the
staff:
I am calling to support Senator Johanns' amendment in the Appropriations
Committee to the Department of Labor appropriation that would prevent the
Department of Labor from finalizing, implementing or enforcing changes to the
Companionship Exemption that would hurt people with disabilities and the
workers who provide us with services and supports to live independently in
the community! Please urge the Senator to support his amendment.
AFTER YOU CALL...
Share this alert with family and friends and urge them to call as well.
Then email us back and share how your call went.
Thank you!
Bruce Darling
ADAPT
