Legislative Advocacy* *in brief
Who is Cathy Brown and why is she here?
Why pay attention to this stuff?
What’s out there…. KEY things for the disability community: Reductions in Medicaid spending in order to fill a 200ish 700 million dollar budget hole (State) Block granting or instituting per-capita caps on Medicaid expenditures (Federal) Repealing Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) (Federal) “out of control welfare spending” (State and Federal) Governor’s Budget Recommendations (State)
Under that scenario, no eligibility group would be protected from cuts. This chart shows the estimated distribution of Medicaid enrollees in Missouri in FY 2016 and the estimated portion of total spending that the different eligibility groups make up. As shown, though they comprise just one-fourth of the total enrollees, about 65 percent of Missouri’s Medicaid funding is used to provide services for seniors and Missourians with disabilities. Under a block grant or per capita cap it is very likely that these groups would have to bear at least some of the required cuts.
Funding for supports and services State Federal Local
What are the implications for SB40 boards?
How to do it Stay informed – This part is easy, let other people do the work for you! find some organizations who send good quality, non-partisan, timely updates on State and Federal Legislative issues Take action – do what those trusted organizations ask We know people have limited advocacy energy and only ask when it’s really necessary Know who your legislators are - http://www.senate.mo.gov/LegisLookup/Default.aspx Have a coffee with them, to go the Capitol and meet with them (schedule in advance!), go to their district coffee’s and events Sign up to get their newsletters
Why it will work They have to deal with thousands of bills and issues every year They are a jack of all trades and master of few They NEED and RELY on the expertise of trusted people and constituents They actually do care what people think, need and want
Questions?
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