Hearing on Architectural Access Board Bill
The Architectural Access Board Bill (AAB) has finally been scheduled for a hearing! There are two ways you can help get this important access bill passed:
- Join us at the State House on Thursday September 12. If you are in need of transportation please contact Tom Filiault at TFiliault@Stavros.org
- If you can't join us, write your State Representative or State Senator and encourage them to support this bill! To make it easier, here's a letter you can use as a starting point to write your own letter
If you are wondering why is this bill so important? How does it affect you? Take a look at the Fact Sheet Here
Please submit written testimony to the Chairs of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, Chairman Naughton and Chairman Moore. Click on https://malegislature.gov/Committees/Detail/J22/191 to see the remaining committee members and to your state legislators
Advocacy Works when you get involved !
The “Public Charge” Rule and You
For many years politicians and other leaders have used money as a way to keep persons with disabilities second-class citizens. PCAs cost too much, ramps cost too much, accommodations at work cost too much. Recently the Trump administration has taken this a step further. They don’t want immigrants with disabilities to even come to the United States because they – wait for it – cost too much.
Trump’s people have come up with the “public charge” rule: a person will not be allowed to enter (or remain in) the United States if they are likely to use government benefits. If an immigration official thinks you or someone in your family looks like someone who might use Medicaid, or Medicare, Section 8 housing vouchers, food stamps, or other essential programs, you’re not getting in. And if you’re already here but not yet a citizen, using these programs could get you kicked out.
In her letter to the Department of Homeland Security contesting this proposed change, Stavros Systems Change Advocate Jennifer Lee wrote “Stavros believes the proposed rule would harm children with disabilities, reinforce negative stereotypes of persons with disabilities, and make it virtually impossible for disabled immigrants to enter the United States. … Forcing parents to [refrain] from accessing necessary medical treatment and services of their child or children is morally wrong and un-America: no parent should have to make such choices.”
People with disabilities aren’t burdens to society. Given the chance, they won’t just pursue happiness, as all Americans are supposed to be able to do: they’ll make this country better!
If you want to get involved, the best thing you can do right now is let your Congressional Representatives know why you oppose this rule.
You can find your Reps here by entering your zip code: https://whoismyrepresentative.com
If you’d like to read more about this rule, and the many groups working to oppose it as we do, you can find some great information below.
The Center for Public Representation: https://medicaid.publicrep.org/feature/public-charge/
OpEd by Elena Hung and Katherine Perez: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/opinion/trumps-disability-public-charge.html
The Kaiser Family Foundation: https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/fact-sheet/proposed-changes-to-public-charge-policies-for-immigrants-implications-for-health-coverage/
The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund: https://dredf.org/2018/10/10/trumps-public-charge-poor-disabled-immigrants-need-not-apply/
Stavros is a Fragrance Free Place
For the safety of our visitors and employees we are requesting our visitors to help us stay a Fragrance Free Place. Please do NOT use fragrances when you visit our offices or attend any of our events.
Fragrance refers to any scent that is perceptible by others. It includes but is not limited to personal care products such as perfume, cologne, aftershave products, health care products, soaps, lotions, powders, and deodorants; laundry products such as detergents, fabric softeners, and dryer sheets; air “fresheners” that contain fragrance products; as well as any product that contains fragrance or scent.
For more information on why being fragrance free helps everyone, visit this website:
https://invisibledisabilities.org/ida-books-pamphlets/chemicalsensitivities/whygofragrancefree/