Advocate

Protect Medicaid & SNAP

The “One Big, Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) Act was signed into law—bringing with it significant cuts to federal Medicaid and SNAP funding. Medicaid is a lifeline for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, making possible the services and supports that foster independence, inclusion, and quality of life.

If you or someone you know needs help finding meals, visit https://whyhunger.org/.

Advance Federal Recognition of the DSP Role

The U.S. Senate passed the “Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) Act” (S.3211, H.R. 6137), which requires the Office of Management and Budget to consider updating the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) and recognizing the DSP role as a distinct profession. This leads to data collection and ideally more robust funding. The bill now goes to the House Representatives.

The Impact on State Services

Gov. Hochul recently shared the Executive Budget. Now, we must advocate to the state senate and assembly to consider including our requests in their one-house budgets for FY27, specifically:

• A 4% Targeted Inflationary Increase (TII) to supplement the Governor’s 1.7% and ensure funding accounts for the increased cost of living, with at least 2.7% for agencies to invest in everyday operating costs.
• The Careforce Affordability Initiative to support affordable housing, childcare and healthcare for direct care staff.
• Infrastructure Investments to ensure funding accounts for the increased cost of living and providing services to maintain facilities, meet state climate goals, and support innovative services.