NYAIL Newsletter, July 2022

NYAIL News 2022, Issue 7

Advocacy Updates, DEI, Public Policy Subcommittees, ADA 32

Advocacy Updates

Congratulations to our former Director of Advocacy Meghan Parker! Meghan has left NYAIL to work in the Office of the Chief Disability Officer as Deputy Director.

The Equal Rights Amendment (S.8797B, A.10468A) has been passed during a special session of the legislature. These proposed changes to the state constitution are required to be passed in two consecutive sessions of the legislature and then approved by a vote of the people. The entire process will put the amendment on the ballot for 2024 if it is passed in the upcoming 2023 legislative session. The language of the amendment was changed last minute to not include protections for discrimination that could be proved by looking at disparate impact, but the bill still includes protections against intentional discrimination based on a person’s ethnicity, national origin, disability, and sex — including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive health care and autonomy (Press release from the NYCLU on passage of the Equal Rights Amendment)

Fair Pay for Home Care! Help spread the message and build up the movement. The link to share is http://bit.ly/FairPayNow. Use this form to email your representatives about the fact we STILL need Fair Pay for Home Care! If you or someone you know can't find home care, you can opt to add your name to Governor Hochul's Home Care Wait List. The wait list is a public display of names that will be used to advocate for Fair Pay for Home Care.

NYAIL's 2022 Webinar Series

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion with Keri on Wednesday

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (D.E.I.) work is ongoing and we're happy to welcome back Keri Gray to present our NYAIL webinar for July.

Keri’s work centers on exploring the intersections of race, gender, and disability across the workplace. Join Keri and NYAIL on July 13th for "Sanction our Scars". ASL interpretation and captioning will be provided. More details are at the link below.

Thank you to our NYAIL 2022 Webinar Series sponsor Waymo!

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they’re going. We believe that fully autonomous technology holds the promise to improve road safety and offer new mobility options to millions of people. This is why we're designing the Waymo Driver, our autonomous technology, to give people a new kind of freedom – to go where they want, when they want, while making the frustrations and concerns with driving a thing of the past.

NYAIL Public Policy Subcommittees

The driving force behind NYAIL's advocacy efforts are its public policy subcommittees, working throughout the year on issues that impact people with disabilities in the areas of health, election reform, employment, housing, inclusive education, and transportation. NYAIL's public policy subcommittees, and the disability stakeholders who make up their membership, identify issues ripe for impact and develop related disability policy proposals. The subcommittees are chaired by, and include as members, ILC executive directors, ILC staff, people with disabilities, advocates from a variety of organizations, and many other stakeholders.

The subcommittees meet monthly to discuss short and long term strategies for action in the areas of disability policy. The subcommittee members study and debate issues that impact the lives of people with disabilities and make recommendations to the NYAIL board regarding advocacy priorities. This process, anchored in the experience and knowledge of the ILCs, people with disabilities, and other relevant stakeholders, surfaces advocacy priorities intended to remove barriers to full community integration for all people with disabilities in New York. Through this process, NYAIL ultimately develops a statewide disability budget and policy agenda, known as NYAIL's Disability Priority Agenda (DPA).

Health

Chair- Heidi Siegfried, Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York

Election Reform

Chair- Monica Bartley, Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York

Employment

Co-Chair- Frank Pennisi, Southern Tier Independence Center
Co-Chair- Patrick Mueller, Taconic Resources, Inc.

Housing

Chair- Beata Karpinska-Prehn, ARISE

Inclusive Education

Chair- Sue Ruff, Southern Tier Independence Center

Transportation

Co-Chair- Cliff Perez, Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley
Co-Chair- Joe Rappaport, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled

Sign-up for a subcommittee using our form

Happy ADA Anniversary!

On July 26, 2022 the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) turns 32! The celebrations have begun already this month as July is Disability Pride Month.

The ADA national network has a calendar of events and you can also add your ADA anniversary event. Events are online and in-person, and you can add your voice to the social media celebrations with the hashtag #ThanksToTheADA. A webpage with graphics and other resources is available at adaanniversary.org.

Check with your local ILC for how you can celebrate ADA 32 in your community. Celebrations are planned all over New York and virtually.

Save the date for the New York State Division of Human Rights Virtual ADA Commemoration event on July 28th at 3 p.m.

NYAIL administers several statewide and regional programs in collaboration with its member ILCs, all of which are focused on helping people with disabilities live independently in the community.

Learn more about NYAIL's program by visiting: ilny.us/programs