The House passed legislation laying out the parliamentary rules for the year last week. The bill included a little-noticed provision blocking Congress from shifting funds to prevent a 2016 shortfall in the Social Security disability insurance program. The Social Security Administration’s actuaries have projected the disability insurance program’s fund will run out of money sometime […]
The 64th legislative assembly officially began on January 6, 2015. As the session proceeds, we encourage you to get involved. If there is a bill you are passionate about, don’t be afraid to send an e-mail to a legislator. E-mail is a quick way to communicate with your legislators. It is important to be careful
The ABLE Act passed the Senate on December 16. The bill passed the Senate as part of a bigger tax package. It passed 76 to 16. The ABLE Act had many things going for it, but the Congress members’ personal stories definitely helped this bill to pass. The ABLE Act aims at removing bureaucratic obstacles
ABLE Act Passed the Senate, but with Limited Scope Read More »
Advocates pushed Congress to vote on the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act which would allow people with disabilities to open tax-advantaged savings accounts. On December 3, the bill was voted on and passed in the house. It is currently waiting for the senate vote. The bill is co-sponsored by 85 percent of the
ABLE Act Passed the House. Will it Pass the Senate? Read More »
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that the “Road to Veterans Day” initiative has had significant progress over the past three months. The initiative was announced on September 8th by Secretary Robert A. McDonald. Over the past three months, the VA has taken deliberate actions to improve service delivery for Veterans, rebuild trust, increase
Progress on the “Road to Veterans Day” Reform at the VA Read More »
Winters in North Dakota have a dramatic effect on home heating costs. The ND Department of Human Services is reminding low-income individuals and families that help is available through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Applications are now being accepted at county social services in North Dakota. This program is federally funded and
Texting has changed the way people communicate and it has really changed the game for about 55.5 million Americans who have hearing loss, deafness, or speech disabilities. Seven out of ten Americans prefer texting to voice calls. This is where text-to-911 comes into play. The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has made a ruling that
The FCC has issued a public notice to remind video programming distributors of their obligation to make information accessible to people with hearing or visual impairments in accordance with section 79.2 of the Commission’s rules. What does this all mean? Emergency information, including critical details regarding the emergency and how to respond to an emergency,
FCC Public Notice: Emergency Information Must Be Accessible to All Read More »
On July 23, the Attorney General signed the Department’s Notice of Proposed Rule-making (NPRM). This proposal will be an amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act title III regulation to provide closed movie captioning and audio description to give people with hearing and vision impairments access to movies. What is closed captioning and audio description?
President Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) on July 22, 2014. What does this mean? It reauthorizes programs that had previously been authorized under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, as well as programs under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. So how does this legislation affect us? Currently, people with disabilities have
