1. Educate to advocate 2019
A Year of Change

2. 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

3. 111th Tennessee General Assembly
Leadership:
Senate: Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally
House: Speaker Glen Casada

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

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

11. 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)

12. 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 – especially after meeting with them
It isn’t “one and done” – you have to work at it and get in front of them regularly

13. 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.

14. resources The Arc Tennessee: http://www.thearctn.org/Public-Policy.php
Tennessee Disability Coalition:
Disability Rights Tennessee: news/january-2015/policy-watch
TN Council on Developmental Disabilities:
AUCD: id=27
The Arc:

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