I Should Have Been Posting This Video

Yes, that's ME! Why do my eyes keep darting around? And where can I get that photo of me at 3:07? Self-centered tangent, I know, but what a GREAT profile pic that would be...

This video was recorded outside the Baltimore City Public Schools headquarters at a pro-Wisconsin MoveOn rally. I went because I told a friend I didn't want to schlep down there, but I'd go if she went. She said she'd only schlep down there if I went. She canceled on me at the last minute, when it was too late to change my paratransit ride. A frustrating day, but worth it I guess, now that I've seen this.

There was a guy off to the side interviewing people after it was over, and since I've joined ADAPT I can't pass by a camera and pass up a chance to spread our message (sounds like I'm a missionary, doesn't it? That's not how I mean it). So I rolled over and this guy asked me one simple question. "Why are you here?" It turned into this.

Two things that bug me: 1) I call ADAPT a "cross disability rights coalition." I meant to say organization, but I used to belong to a Maryland statewide group, the Cross Disability Rights Coalition, so I say "cross disability rights" and my brain goes straight to coalition automatically. Oh well.

2) I keep talking about "taking money away from vulnerable individuals." Really? PWDs are vulnerable? Don't call ME vulnerable. I can't believe I spread such ableism. Please forgive me. I was thinking on my feet (so to speak, I was sitting, haha), but there had to have been a better way to explain the urgency of getting the bill passed.

Overall though, I think I did a great job.

Quote From Some Random Guy

Yesterday I went to Annapolis for the senate hearing on the "Lorraine Sheehan Health & Community Services Act." I can't tell if it went well or not, we shall see. This post isn't really about that.

I got picked up by paratransit where I live and got to Annapolis right about the time I said I needed to be there, however my 5:15 pick up from Annapolis that was supposed to take me to OOO didn't come until after 8. While I was waiting in the lobby of the Miller Senate Office Complex for 3hrs (thank g-d I had brought both my lunch and dinner with me) 2 crowds of people from 2 different events both arrived and left. I got many puzzled looks from people on their way out.

At about 7:30 I even got offered a ride home from some guy. He asked me where I live and I told him the city. He then said he was going my way, he lives in Baltimore. Did I want a ride? A guy I'd never met before...

He then takes out his wallet and is about to show me his business card.

"I work for the Carroll County government," He says. "So you can trust me."

"That's ok," I replied. They said they'd be here about 8."

Since when does working for government make someone more trustworthy?

Quote From DD Day

I went to "Developmental Disabilities Day at the Legislature" (DD Day for short) today, which is run by the ARC of Maryland. There's a breakfast and briefings on the current situation in the state for those of us needing DD services, and by that I mean services paid for by state Medicaid (medical assistance) dollars and most likely overseen by the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA). So I was in line at the registration table and a mom comes out to one of the people working registration. She holds out her name tag which is hanging around her neck.

"Do you have another one of these?" She asks. Then she cuts off the person, who is about to ask who's name she's looking for. "No, just the holder," she says. "My daughter would like to chew it."

As the person goes to hand her an empty one, she motions that it would be easier if she also had the string so she could put it around her daughter's neck. Without blinking an eye, a string appears, the empty badge holder is placed in her hand, and the mom walks off.

In my head I chuckled. Most of the time in most of the world a request such as this would be seen as such an oddity, but here today it was a no-brainer easy request to fill. Why can't it always be that easy?

I Can't Post One Without the Other

From The Maryland Reporter April 5, 2010. Somehow it never got posted here.

Disability Advocates Demonstrate for Tax Hike

A small group of people with developmental disabilities demonstrated in the State House lobby Monday night, chanting “10 cents makes sense.”

The group was frustrated with failure to pass a major hike in the alcohol tax to help pay for services for the disabled. Alcohol taxes, now about a penny a drink, have not been raised in more than 30 years.

Senate President Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch have said for months that the legislature would enact no tax increases of any kind this year.

At the end of the video, Sgt. Larry Barnes, a state trooper who is the sergeant-at-arms for the House, told the group to quiet down, but he promised to try to get them in to see Busch and Miller. According to Busch’s office, the speaker later went out to meet with the group, but they had already left the building.

Small Group Protests Over Possible Medicaid Cuts

From Brian Witte, AP, January 17 2011 Photo & Video from WBAL Radio.

Disabled Maryland residents called on the governor on Monday to avoid budget cuts to Medicaid that they fear could seriously damage community-based support services.

About 10 people held a brief rally in front of the marble staircase that leads to Gov. Martin O'Malley's office inside the Maryland State House, down the hall from the Maryland House of Delegates and the Maryland Senate. The state is facing a $1.6 billion shortfall for the next fiscal year. The rally was held four days before O'Malley is scheduled to disclose a budget proposal he says will fill the hole entirely with cuts.

The participants chanted: "We want O'Malley," "Don't cut our services" and "I'd rather go to jail than die in a nursing home" during a protest that lasted about 10 minutes. Participants are members of a grass roots disability rights activist group called Maryland ADAPT. They say Medicaid cuts could force disabled people from communities into institutions.

"We wanted to come out and share our concerns about what may possibly happen," said Floyd Hartley, who spent three years in a nursing home before finding out about a Medicaid program that enabled him to move to a home setting. "We're hoping that they don't happen, but we're here to interject to the governor that these cuts can be detrimental to many individuals within the state."

Few people were in the building at the time of the rally. Lawmakers are not scheduled to gather for session until 8 p.m. O'Malley was in Baltimore commemorating the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday and volunteering at several events marking a day of service.

O'Malley, a Democrat, has emphasized that his proposal will be the beginning of a dialogue with the Maryland General Assembly about how to handle what is expected to be a difficult budget year due to the evaporation of federal stimulus money that helped the last two years.

O'Malley has said he will keep an open mind about any new tax proposals, but he has said he will not include any tax increases.

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene made up about $8.9 billion of the state's budget last year. About 70 percent of that is in the Medicaid program, which comes with a large match in federal funding and provides services to about 1 million people in the state.

O'Malley is scheduled to make his budget proposal public on Friday.

The article appeared in the following places. One of these days I'll link to everything.

WTOP - Baltimore Sun - Bloomberg News - Delaware Online - Forbes - Connecticut Post - MSNBC Business - Canadian Business - Business Week - Yahoo Finance - Greenfield Daily Reporter - Darien News - Daily Finance - WUSA - WJZ - WBAL Radio - Times Union - Beaumont Enterprise - The Star Democrat - Greenwich Time - Delmarva Now - News Times - Stamford Advocate - Daily Journal - The Republic - ABC 27 - MD Daily Record - Frederick News Post - Cecil Whig - WBOC TV - Media Dis&Dat Blog - WBFF - WAMU - Fox5DC - CNBC - Pharmacy Choice - Maryland Reporter

What will we be up to next? Just wait and see...

It's Voting Season

Candidate Endorsers

I'm posting this just in time as the Maryland primary is Tuesday. The Lorraine Sheehan Health & Community Services act is something very close to my heart. I have a friend who comes across as a single issue voter, but states proudly that she is not. She states that yes, she is a pro-disability voter, but she is also pro-poor people, pro-healthcare, etc. It just so happens that the boundaries between these issues often blur. She, as am I, is a pro-disenfranchised, look out for the underdog voter. This bill captures all of that.

I have written about the act before. In short, Maryland has 2 different alcohol taxes that haven't been raised since 1955 & 1972 respectively. A 10 cent increase would raise $214 million in funds that will be used for direct support for individuals with developmental disabilities, substance abuse treatment, & expanding medicaid eligibility. This has been a multi-year battle, & if you're in Maryland I hope you'll vote pro-alcohol tax this tuesday. I know I won't be voting for 2 of my incumbents...

Fact Sheet on The Lorraine Sheehan Health and Community Services Act of 2010

I've been meaning to post facts about the alcohol tax increase bill making its way through the Maryland legislature and it just dawned on me that I could upload this word doc onto my blog through scribd. Feel free to print and distribute. The number of organizations involved is WAY out of date. my friend tells me that the list is now over 70.

FYI the hearing dates are Wednesday, March 10th at 1pm in the Miller Senate Office Building, 3 West Wing 11 Bladen St., Annapolis MD 21401 and Thursday, March 11th at 1pm in the House Office Building, Room 131 6 Bladen St., Annapolis, MD 21401

Please comment here if you would like more info.

Fact Sheet - Feb 5 2010

NCADD Poll Release

Poll Memo Alcohol Tax 3.1.10

I Meant to Write a Thankful Thursday Yesterday

[that's a picture of the MD state house to the left]

The day just got away from me. Wednesday was a GREAT day, the best I've had in a long time. Wednesday I went to Action Annapolis. I was bursting with so much greatness that I just have to share. I am thankful that

• I was able to get up and out in time to make my 6:45am paratransit ride.

• My 6:45am paratransit ride was on time, as was my 1:15 and my 5:03 was early! It is so hard for drivers to find anything in Annapolis... My 9:15 came @ 9:51, only 6mins outside the window. Not bad for 4 rides in a day!

• I told a friend I would either show up @ 8 or 10, nothing in between. I got there @ 8:05 for an 8:30 arrival time so I was actually EARLY to something in Annapolis on a Wendesday (their busiest day)!!!!!!!

• "Policy educating" always gives me such a rush and reminds me of my innate power to get things done; I'm totally pumped up for school on Monday!

• I also got a super cool button, my favorite of all 9 on my purse. 10 cents makes sense! That's in reference to the alcohol tax bill.

• I hang out with some of the coolest most passionate people now! If you can figure out who you are (there are quite a few) I <3 u

• I now have a mission when I go for the guardian voting bill hearing on Tues: bug the hell out of Mike Miller, the head of the senate, who has decided that there will be no tax increases in an election year. Not if I, or the army of supporters have anything to do with it.

• I was confidant enough to take the lead when talking to senators and I WON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!

• People @ OOO seem to be able to understand me when I am so tired that I cannot even keep my head up. Getting up @ 5am is just not my thing and I took my meds so early they wore off not long after I got there.

• People @ OOO don't seem to be bugged that I frequently use my time for public policy "commercials."

I'm hoping that frequent trips to Annapolis and/or DC this year keep me jazzed, pumped up, and distracted enough to kick those losers at school in the ass! Depression sucks...