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Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

Appropriations Alert: Re-Energize! Rise Up and Prevail in Solidarity!

In July, NCIL sent out the House Appropriations Subcommittee-approved FY 2017 Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education (L-HHS-ED) spending bill (PDF) that was marked up by the L-HHS-ED Subcommittee. The bill proposes a $1,652,000 increase for the Independent Living Program, for a total of $102,835,000.

In June, The Senate Appropriations Committee approved their L-HHS-ED spending bill (PDF), where it was level funded.

NCIL logo - National Council on Independent LivingThese are huge wins and solely due to your efforts! Thank you for all you do! However, we must keep it up the advocacy efforts and push even harder so that we can reach our goal of increasing the IL budget by $200 million, especially on the Senate side, where the IL Program was level funded.

If your member of the House or Senate sits on the Appropriations Committee, please thank them for their support and urge them to increase the IL budget by $200 million.

If your member of the House or Senate is not on either Appropriations Committee, please urge them to write a “Dear Colleague” letter encouraging their colleagues and the Appropriations Chairs to recognize our valuable work by investing $200 million in the IL Program.

Below, you will find members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. We’ve developed a Fact Sheet that you can use to educate your members of Congress on the impact of the IL Program.

After next week, Congress is expected to recess and not return until the middle of November. Use this time to invite your member of Congress to your Center and educate them on the significant importance of the IL Program! 

Appropriations Subcommittees

House: (Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies)

Republicans:

  • Tom Cole (R), Oklahoma, Chairman
  • Mike Simpson (R), Idaho
  • Steve Womack (R), Arkansas, Vice Chair
  • Chuck Fleischmann (R), Tennessee
  • Andy Harris (R), MD, Maryland
  • Martha Roby (R), Alabama
  • Charlie Dent (R), Pennsylvania
  • Scott Rigell (R), Virginia

Democrats:

  • Rosa DeLauro (D), Connecticut, Ranking Member
  • Lucille Roybal-Allard (D), California
  • Barbara Lee (D), California
  • Chaka Fattah (D), Pennsylvania

Senate: (Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies)

Republicans:

  • Roy Blunt (R), Missouri, Chairman
  • Jerry Moran (R), Kansas
  • Richard Shelby (R), Alabama
  • Thad Cochran (R), Mississippi
  • Lamar Alexander (R), Tennessee
  • Lindsey Graham (R), South Carolina
  • Mark Kirk (R), Illinois
  • Bill Cassidy (R), Louisiana
  • Shelley Moore Capito (R), West Virginia
  • James Lankford (R), Oklahoma

Democrats:

  • Patty Murray (D), Washington, Ranking Member
  • Richard Durbin (D), Illinois
  • Jack Reed (D), Rhode Island
  • Barbara Mikulski (D), Maryland
  • Jeanne Shaheen (D), New Hampshire
  • Jeff Merkley (D), Oregon
  • Brian Schatz (D), Hawaii
  • Tammy Baldwin (D), Wisconsin

Comments

  1. To all of the above, House and Senate alike, we the people in the disability community are asking that you fund the Independent Living Program with more money so that we can provide the Five Core Services(Peer Support, Advocacy, Skills Training, Information and Referral and our most important service is Nursing Home Transition( Moving people out of Nursing Homes into their own home and into the community and Transitioning youth from High School into the Employment stage and make them fill like they are part of the community as well.