TONY LA CAVA
-----Original Message-----
From: NCIL [mailto:ncil@ncil.org]
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 2:26 PM
To: NCIL
Subject: Update: Act Now - Ask Congress to keep Independent Living in the Stimulus Bill!
Act Now: Ask Congress to keep Independent Living in the Stimulus Bill!
Update: The Senate passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act this afternoon by a 61-37 vote. The conferees are Senators Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Max Baucus (D-MT), Harry Reid (D-NV), Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Thad Cochran (D-MS). Likely conferees in the House will be David Obey (D-WI), Charles Rangel (D-NY), George Miller (D-CA), James Oberstar (D-MN), and John Spratt (D-SC). House Republican conferees will be announced shortly.
We need to keep the pressure on both the House & Senate Conferees to keep funding for Independent Living, IDEA, and Vocational Rehabilitation!
Act Now: Persuade your Senators and Representatives to keep IL funding in the stimulus bill. The funding is listed under "Rehabilitation and Disability Research," but is not research related. Tell them your Center will use the funds to hire critically needed employees to help people with disabilities gain employment opportunities.
Targets: The conferees listed above.
You must communicate the following to your Senators and Representatives in order to secure this funding:
- It is critical to keep funding in the bill for Independent Living, IDEA, and Vocational Rehabilitation. CILs need employees. They can make immediate hires. Centers work with people with disabilities to help them become employed, and provide the support needed so that people are job ready and can find good jobs that are sustainable. Funding coupled for all programs will have a huge impact on all people with disabilities across the country.
- Centers help people to remain independent in their own homes and communities, and help prevent people from being institutionalized. Centers help ease the financial burden that states have to bear on institutional expenses by keeping people OUT of institutions.
- Ask them to keep the funding for the Independent Living Program in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Ask for the legislative aide handling the Economic Recovery package and tell them about your state and the services CILs provide.
Both the House and Senate are currently in conference to reconcile the differences between the two bills. Call the Conference Committee today and stress the importance of Independent Living!
For more information: Contact NCIL Policy Analyst Elizabeth Leef by email, Elizabeth@ncil.org, phone: (202) 207-0334, ext 1015 or fax: (202) 207-0341.
