Federal Policy Priorities
RespectAbility’s 2024 federal policy priorities include:
- Eliminating barriers to work.
- Promoting competitive, integrated employment.
- Supporting effective school-to-work transitions.
- Advancing accessibility best practices across sectors.
- Empowering disabled people to advocate for themselves.
Advancing these priorities in the current session, RespectAbility supports the following bills.
- Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act
- Voting Accessibility Act
- Supplemental Security Income Savings Penalty Elimination Act
- Communications, Video, and Technology Accessibility Act
#DisabilityCounts: Our Work to Halt Changes to Key Questions Used by the US Census to Measure the Disability Population
RespectAbility and many other disability advocacy organizations submitted comments to the U.S. Census Bureau, in response to proposed changes to disability questions on the American Community Survey, which threatened to undercount disabled people. Disability population numbers are tied to many federal programs disabled individuals rely on, and with this change, these programs could lose critical funding. We continue to advocate to ensure the disability community is not left out of such important conversations – nothing about us without us!
Coalition Highlight: Overcoming Barriers to Equal and Just Access to Health Care
RespectAbility, in coalition with the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD), commented on a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to address discrimination against people with disabilities in health and human services programs. CCD, the largest coalition of national disability advocacy organizations, urges swift adoption of this rule to ensure:
- Equal access to health care
- More inclusive child welfare programs
- Accessible technology and services
