The Arc Maryland's Weekly Legislative Update 
 For the Week of March 12 - 16, 2018

 Please check out our bill tracker and
the hearing schedule below!
*For a key of the Committee abbreviations, please click here or see  the end of this Newsletter*

Decisions will be made in the House this week on the
Maryland Dept. of Health -
Developmental Disabilities Administration Budget
 
Today at 4 pm.
SUBCOMMITTEE on Health and Social Services - Room 150
 
Friday at 1 p.m.
FULL COMMITTEE - Subcommittees Report to Full Committee and Full Committee Decisions- Room 150
 
Please show up.  Wear orange, and wear your 3.5% buttons!  Your Actions Matter.

Members of the Appropriations Committee:

Here's a Recap of Last Week's Notable Hearings

HB 1379: Baltimore County Public Schools - Student Misconduct - Penalty for Parent and Guardian

Prohibiting a certain student from violating the Baltimore County Board of Education's bullying, harassment, and intimidation policy by performing certain actions; prohibiting a certain student from violating a certain Code of Student Conduct by fighting; establishing a civil fine not to exceed $1,000 for a certain person who has legal custody or care and control of a certain student; authorizing a court to suspend a certain fine under certain circumstances.

Status: Post Hearing, Awaiting Report from W&M

Position:  The Arc Maryland opposes this bill and has submitted written testimony in collaboration with the Education Advocacy Coalition.  This bill creates a punitive response for parents for an action of a dependent child.  We believe there should be special considerations for students with disabilities; the behavior of children with disabilities can be easily misread by peers and by adults who do not understand them.  

HB 1388 /SB 597: Community Colleges - Supplemental Services and Supports for Students With Disabilities Grant Program

Requiring the Maryland Higher Education Commission to consult with the Maryland Association of Community Colleges when establishing a certain review process and adopting certain guidelines or regulations for a grant program for supplemental services and supports for students with disabilities in community colleges; and requiring, beginning in fiscal year 2020, that the Governor include in the annual budget bill a General Fund appropriation of at least $2,500,000 to the Commission to be used to award grants under the program.

Status: HB 1388 Post Hearing, Awaiting Report from W&M, SB 597 Post Hearing, Awaiting Report from EHEA

Position:   The Arc Maryland supports this bill in collaboration with the Education Advocacy Coalition and submitted written testimony.  This bill supports a grant program that would assist community colleges in meeting legal requirements by better enabling them to provide a range of supplemental services and supports to students with disabilities for greater academic success. Students with disabilities who are included in academic courses and campus life on a college campus are more likely to be employed, earn more, and may require less support throughout their lifetime.

HB 1533: Students With a Disability - Brain Injury Screening - Evaluation for Individualized Education Program

Requiring the State Department of Education to adopt a standard, by regulation, for the provision of a brain injury screening to be given to a child with a disability during an initial evaluation for an individualized education program, using a screening developed with the advice of the State Traumatic Brain Injury Board.

Status: Post Hearing, Awaiting Report from W&M

Position:  The Arc Maryland submitted a letter of information in collaboration with the Education Advocacy Coalition. Students with traumatic brain injury are under-reported and often misclassified as students with emotional or other disabilities, and many times do not receive the specialized services they need. This bill is worded in a way that makes it inconsistent with the way the special education evaluation process operates. This inconsistency and problematic component of the bill could be addressed by requiring brain injury screenings for students who are referred for special education.  

The Minimum Wage Bills
All Minimum Wage Bills were heard and considered at the same time last Thursday in Senate Finance. 
  
After brief introductions of the bills by their Senate sponsors, testimonies were heard.
Baltimore Mayor, Catherine Pugh testified in support of increasing the Maryland Minimum Wage and specifically mentioned the need for appropriate funding for community providers.  There were also compelling testimonies all in support of  SB 543:  Labor and Employment- Payment of the Minimum Wage Required ("Fight for 15") from  Mark Elrich (representing Montgomery County Council), Danielle Glaros (representing Prince George's County Council), Bernard Young, Brandon Scott and others (representing Baltimore City Council) and others in county and local leadership positions.

The opposition spoke about what they perceived would be negative impacts of increasing the minimum wage in Maryland, such as impacts to tipped wage workers, restaurants, small businesses, and the retail industries in particular.
 
HB 664/SB 543 proposes to increase the state minimum wage incrementally to $15 per hour by July 1, 2023, and then by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) every year beginning July 1, 2024.  The bill includes a provision to increase DD funding for Community Providers each year to address Direct Care Provider wages with related expenses and COLA.  Funding would be increased by 7% in FY20, followed by 5.5% in each of the years from FY21 to FY24.  This provision is designed to keep the wage factor in the DD rate at a certain percentage above minimum wage as the state minimum wage increases. 

Status: Post Hearing in both the House and Senate .  Decision dates do not yet appear on the schedule.

Position: The Arc Maryland believes that Direct Support Professionals perform a critical role in our system of supports in Maryland and that one way we address the Direct Care crisis is through increasing the DD funded wage factor in the DDA rates.  This bill includes a mandate for increases in DD funding.  The Arc Maryland testified in support of SB 543 along with DD Coalition Partners.  In coordination with DD Coalition, The Arc Maryland also changed it's response to the other minimum wage bills to taking a neutral position and providing Letters of Information to Committee members as opposed to supporting with amendments.  This decision was made to prevent confusion in the committee.

Bond Bills for The Arc Central Chesapeake Region and The Arc Prince George's County
All bond hearings were on Saturday, March 10.  The Arc submitted letters of support and corresponded with Committee members in support of both requests.  Decisions are pending. 


Here is this week's top bills to watch
HB 427/SB 217: Public Schools - Student Sunscreen Use - Policy

Requiring each county board of education to adopt a certain written policy to authorize a student to possess and use sunscreen on school property or at a school-sponsored activity without written permission from a health care provider; and requiring each county board to encourage public schools to educate students about sunscreen, sun safety, and the policy established under the Act.

Status: HB 427 passed in House (135-0), First Reading in EHEA in the Senate; SB 217 passed in Senate (44-0), Hearing Scheduled 3/22 in W&M in House

Position: The Arc Maryland submitted written testimony in support of a policy that includes students with I/DD who cannot apply sunscreen.  Currently the MSDE School Health Service Guidelines do not address the need to support students with disabilities and sun protection. These guidelines allow medications and treatments to be given at school with parental permission but do not allow sunscreen to be used in school. This bill will allow all students in school to be protected from horrific burns and an increased risk of skin cancers, especially those with disabilities who may not be able to apply sunscreen for protection.

HB 251/SB 402: Education - Family Life and Human Sexuality Curriculum - Boundaries and Consent 

Requiring a county board of education to provide age-appropriate instruction on the meaning of "consent," which is defined as the unambiguous and voluntary agreement between all participants in each physical act within the course of interpersonal relationships, including respect for personal boundaries; and requiring a county board to provide age-appropriate instruction on the meaning of "consent" as part of the Family Life and Human Sexuality curriculum beginning in the 2018-1019 school year.

Status: HB 251 passed in House (117-17), First Reading in EHEA in Senate; SB 402 passed in Senate (45-0), Hearing Scheduled 3/22 in W&M in House

Position:  The Arc Maryland supports this bill and submitted written testimony  as a proactive approach to minimizing sexual assaults by training students and teaching them on the meaning of consent as well as developing awareness on how to appropriately interact with others, especially when it comes to consent in human sexuality and boundaries. 

  HB 966/SB 1103: Education - Voluntary Ethical Special Education Advocate Certificate Program

Requiring the State Department of Education to establish the Voluntary Ethical Special Education Advocate Certificate Program on or before July 1, 2019, for administration of a voluntary certificate program for ethical special education advocates; specifying qualifications and application procedures for a certificate; requiring the Department to issue a certificate to a certain applicant; authorizing an applicant to petition for judicial review of a decision of the Department that relates to issuing or renewing a certificate.

Status: HB 966 Post Hearing, Awaiting Report from W&M; SB 1103 Hearing Scheduled 3/14 in EHEA

Position: The Arc Maryland submitted opposition testimony in collaboration with Education Advocacy Coalition.  Although The Arc Maryland appreciates amendments made to this bill based on feedback we submitted last session, the bill is still concerning as the purpose of the bill is not clear  and the language is vague. "Advocate" is not defined and the components and rationale of the selection of the training program that would be used for certification makes the value of certification questionable.  

 
We Need Your Help
The Arc Maryland is continuing to collect stories on the impact that various bills and actions could have on individuals with I/DD and their families. Please join our advocacy efforts by clicking on the links below to share your stories!
Other Nationwide Activity

Bills to institute Medicaid Work and "Community Engagement" Requirements are popping up throughout the United States.  There is a bill that The Arc Maryland is monitoring this session that seeks to create a pilot program to examine the feasibility in Maryland. 
 
HB1477  would require the Maryland Department of Health, on or before October 1, 2018, to apply to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for a waiver under a certain provision of federal law to implement a certain demonstration project establishing work or community engagement requirements on certain enrollees in the Maryland Medical Assistance Program, would require a certain application to include certain information; and would require the Department to report to the General Assembly on or before December 1, 2018.

 

HB1477:  Maryland Medical Assistance Program - Work and Community Engagement Requirements - Waiver.  The hearing is scheduled for 3/13 at 1 p.m. in House APP.

 

With our disability community partners around the state, we believe that Medicaid work requirement programs only impose additional barriers to access to healthcare for people for whom Medicaid was created.

 

Check out a recent US News opinion piece on the proposed policies also shared on The Arc of the United States Facebook Page:


 

 

The Medicaid Freeloader Fallacy
Don't believe that Medicaid work requirements do anything but deny people health care.


 
Also, in case you missed it, Joe Shapiro, the reporter behind NPR's powerful series on sexual assault and disability was recently interviewed by Leigh Ann Davis, The Arc's Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives to discuss the epidemic facing people with disabilities.  The archived video of that interview can be found at www.thearc.org

 

billtracker
Bill Tracker
Click here for The Arc Maryland Bill Tracker. (Click on the bill number in the chart to see the full bill)
This Week's Notable Hearings
hearings
March 12th
  • House: Health and Government Operations (HGO) - House Office Building in Room 240 at 1 pm
    • HB 1512, Health Insurance - Dental Preventive Care - Coverage
    • Description: Altering a certain prohibition on a carrier imposing a certain frequency limitation on dental preventive care; and providing for the application of the Act.
  • House: Appropriations (APP) - Subcommittee on Health and Social Services - Room 150 at 4 pm
    • Budget Decisions  
March 13th
  • House: Judiciary (JUD)- House Office Building in Room 100 at 1 pm
    • HB 1289, Correctional Services - Arrested Persons - Mental Disorder Screenings
    • Description: Requiring the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the Maryland Department of Health jointly to establish a uniform mental disorder screening procedure for screening arrested persons; establishing certain requirements for a mental disorder screening test; requiring that each arrested person detained or confined in a correctional facility be screened for a mental disorder as soon as possible, except under certain circumstances;
March 14th
  • Senate: Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee (EHEA) - Miller Senate Building in Room 2 West at 1 pm
    • SB 1103, Education - Voluntary Ethical Special Education Advocate Certificate Program
    • Description: Requiring the State Department of Education to establish the Voluntary Ethical Special Education Advocate Certificate Program on or before July 1, 2019, for administration of a voluntary certificate program for ethical special education advocates; specifying qualifications and application procedures for a certificate; requiring the Department to issue a certificate to a certain applicant; authorizing an applicant to petition for judicial review of a decision of the Department that relates to issuing or renewing a certificate; etc.
     
Keep this hearing for the following week in your calendar!
March 21st
  • Senate: Finance (FIN)  Miller Senate Building 3W at 1 pm
    • SB 1185, Maryland Medical Assistance Program - Waiver for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder - Waiting List
    • Description: Requiring the Maryland Department of Health and the State Department of Education jointly to develop a process to review each year the waiting list for children to receive services through the Home- and Community-Based Services Waiver for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder; requiring the review process to include a requirement that an individual be a resident of the State to be added to or remain on the waiting list; etc.  (Under amendment with recommendations from The Arc and DD Council)



       
key
Please note: the following abbreviations identify the legislative committees in the Maryland General Assembly.

House of Delegates
  • Economic Matters Committee - EMC
  • Environment and Transportation Committee - E&T
  • Health and Government Operations Committee - HGO
  • Judicial Committee - JUD
  • Ways and Means Committee - W&M
Senate 
  • Budget & Taxation Committee - B&T
  • Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee - EHEA
  • Finance Committee - FIN
  • Judicial Proceedings Committee - JPR
The Arc Maryland Public Policy Team 

Ande Kolp, Executive Director

Tonia Ferguson, Esq., Director of Public Policy & Special Initiatives
Lori Scott, RN, MS, Public Policy Fellow
Grace Williams, Public Policy Fellow