Educate to advocate 2019 A Year of Change

New state leadership Governor Bill Lee sworn into office on January 19, 2019 Governor’s priorities: Mental Health Criminal Justice/Corrections Rural Issues New cabinet members to note: DIDD Commissioner Brad Turner DOE Commissioner Penny Schwinn TennCare Director Gabe Roberts

111th Tennessee General Assembly Leadership: Senate: Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally House: Speaker Glen Casada

111th TN General Assembly Senate Committees: Commerce and Labor Education Energy, Agriculture and National Resources Finance, Ways and Means Government Operations Health and Welfare Judiciary State and Local Government Transportation and Safety

111th TN General assembly House Committees and Subcommittees Agriculture and Natural Resources Calendar and Rules Commerce Banking and Investments Business Utilities House Committees and Subcommittees Consumer and Human Resources Consumer Employee Affairs Education Education Administration Curriculum, Testing & Innovation Higher Education Subcommittee K-12 Finance, Ways and Means Finance 111th TN General assembly

111th TN General Assembly House Committees House Committees Government Operations Health Facilities, Licensure, & Regulations Mental Health & Substance Abuse Public Health Insurance Life & Health Insurance Property & Casualty TennCare House Committees Judiciary Civil Justice Criminal Justice Children & Families Constitutional Protections & Sentencing Local Elections & Campaign Finance Cities & Counties Property & Plannning 111th TN General Assembly

111th TN General Assembly House Committees House Committees Naming, Designating & Private Acts State Departments & Agencies Public Service & Employees Corrections House Committees Transportation Safety & Funding Infrastructure Select Committee on Rules Ethics 111th TN General Assembly

111th TN General Assembly Over 20 “Freshman” Legislators Key Dates: Bill filing deadline: February 7, 2019 Disability Day on the Hill: February 12, 2019 – “LiveAble Tennessee” Governor’s State of the State: March 4, 2019 111th TN General Assembly

111th TN General Assembly Key Issues for 2019: Direct Support Professional (DSP)Wages – make the non-recurring funds from last year’s budget recurring Katie Beckett Waiver – excludes family income when considering TennCare eligibility for certain children who have long-term disabilities or complex medical needs and live at home Block any potentially harmful legislation that could limit critical benefits for people with disabilities (such as SNAP) 111th TN General Assembly

Federal updates New Senator: Marsha Blackburn New Congressmen: John Rose Mark Green Tim Burchett

Federal updates Key Issues: Work requirements for “able- bodied” TennCare recipients (public comment due to CMS by February 7th Attacks on “life-line” programs such as Medicaid, SSI, SNAP, etc. Erosion of protections for people with disabilities by rolling back guidance, rules, etc. Reauthorization of Money Follows the Person (MFP)

How you can make an impact It’s all about relationships Meet with your legislators, especially if they are new – share your story with them Meet with members of the Governor’s cabinet, especially if they are new – share your story with them Call and email – especially after meeting with them It isn’t “one and done” – you have to work at it and get in front of them regularly

How you can make an impact Other ways to get involved in public policy advocacy: Submit comments on proposed policies, rules, etc. during public comment periods Get involved in coalitions and committees that focus on an issue of interest to you Subscribe to legislative and policy updates from organizations like The Arc, Disability Rights TN, DD Council, etc.

resources The Arc Tennessee: http://www.thearctn.org/Public-Policy.php Tennessee Disability Coalition: https://www.tndisability.org/ Disability Rights Tennessee: https://www.disabilityrightstn.org/resources/ news/january-2015/policy-watch TN Council on Developmental Disabilities: https://www.tn.gov/cdd/public-policy.html AUCD: https://www.aucd.org/template/page.cfm? id=27 The Arc: https://www.thearc.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=2 530

Carrie Hobbs Guiden Executive Director The Arc Tennessee cguiden@thearctn.org questions?