Push Day 2010!

Topeka was the final destination on the "Walk a Mile in Our Shoes" campaign. InterHab hosted a rally on the grounds of the Kansas State Capitol on April 28th, 2010. DD agencies from all over Kansas got together to advocate on behalf of Kansans with developmental disabilities and the enormous fiscal needs of the DD system!

Click on the link to see the Fox 4's coverage of Push Day 2010!

http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-story-disabled-advocates-walk-042810,0,767101.story

Thank you to everyone involved in Push Day!

Legislative Update

From Lurena Mead-
Your Monday Morning Update:

· The Senate Ways and Means Committee spent Monday through Wednesday of last week trying to hammer out a revised budget bill which will be presented to the full Senate once they return to Topeka on Wednesday. The budget bill that the Senate proposed a month ago is now overspent by $486 million. The Committee was charged with the task of balancing the budget by making additional cuts or by coming up with a tax package that would offset spending. The Committee spent Monday morning through noon Wednesday going line by line through their budget bill. They added, they deleted, they tweaked, they altered.

· Key points of the revised bill affecting DD:
- They supported the Governor’s budget by reinstating the 10% cut to Medicaid.
- Restored the $3.1 million from the HCBS DD waiver that was previously cut.
- Did NOT recommend replacing CDDO Grant funds nor the DD State Aid.

· By Wednesday afternoon, the Committee was ready to work on “revenue enhancements”. Several tax scenarios/plans were presented but the Committee was unable to come to an agreement. The conversation got to be fairly brisk as well as brusque so the Committee decided to call it a day. Conversations will continue this week.

· The House Appropriations Committee met on Thursday to start working their budget bill.

· Key points of their negotiations so far:
- Support reinstating the 10% cut to Medicaid.
- Restore $6.9 million (bringing in $16 million in matched federal funds) for the DD and the Physically Disabled waiting lists. This was a pleasant surprise and one that we’ll be watching!

The Walk A Mile in My Shoes Rally at Miller Park in De Soto last Friday was a resounding success! The rain held off and Fox 4 television came for a visit. I’ve attached the link to story if you happened to have missed it. It ran three times Friday night! The baton carrying the 4,300 names of folks on the waiting list has now made its way to Atchison, KS. The baton will end up in Topeka on Wednesday during InterHab’s Push Day.

A reminder that Push Day is on Wednesday. Folks will be meeting at the south end of the Capitol around 10:00. Gary Lezak predicts mid 70’s and sunshine so bring a blanket, a lunch, a bottle of water and some sunscreen. Support the runners/walkers/rollers as they complete the last mile of the relay.

Your TO DO list for the week:

- Please join fellow advocates in Topeka on Wednesday. Beautiful day for a drive and camaraderie for our shared mission!

- Make an appointment to visit your legislators to make sure they know that you EXPECT them to support DD funding!

- Be sure to visit www.invisiblekansans.org

- Remember that your involvement during the next two weeks is imperative.


Warm Regards,
Lurena Mead

WDAF news coverage of the Invisible Kansans rally

On Friday, April 23, JCDS, Cottonwood and Lakemary Center hosted an Invisible Kansans rally to raise awareness about the developmental disability (DD) waiting list in Kansas. The KU Women's Basketball team was on hand to walk with them and sign autographs. Click below to watch the inspiring story!
http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-walking-for-disabled-kansans-042310,0,7826452.story

Legislative Update

From Lurena Mead:

Late breaking news! I had a Legislator “sighting” last week! They are starting to stir.
• Talking about Legislative “sightings” Senator Huntington, Representatives Bollier, Slattery, Wolf and Talia from northern Johnson County will be holding a forum at the Sylvester Powell Community Center at 7:00 pm on Tuesday April 20th. If you are in their districts, this would a good opportunity to advocate for individuals with DD. I’ll be there and hope to see you! One stop shopping!
• Now that the State’s April financials are in, it looks like the State will be $46.4 million dollars short in FY ‘10 (even after they made all those prior cuts). It’s kind of late to make more cuts, so many believe that they will just borrow money from the FY ’11 budget in order to make things balance. That means there’s an additional $46.4 hole to fill in an already underwhelming 2011 budget.
• The Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations Committees will be getting back to work the week of April 19th in order to get a few things figured out before the whole Legislature returns on April 28th. They will talk cuts as well as tax increases. • I’ve attached information about InterHab’s Push Day rally which will held at the Capitol on April 28th. InterHab is a statewide resource network for individuals with disabilities and is based out of Topeka.
Your To Do list for the week:
Make plans to take your friends, families and neighbors to Topeka for InterHab’s Push Day rally on April 28th where we’ll end the “Walk a Mile In My Shoes” trek across Kansas.
I’ve ordered sunshine, so a rally on the lawn will be just to trick to make legislators sit up and take notice, as well as put a little color in your cheeks!
If you can’t open the Push Day link or need additional information, please call me. It would be grand to have hundreds of people gathering together to focus on our common cause. In this case, silence isn’t golden!
I have a feeling that the fleas will be biting!

Warm Regards and my sincere apology for sending opinion rather than fact, on my prior Update. It won’t happen again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlJ6MF9MQQU

Enjoy this heartwarming video about unlikely friends who look beyond their immense differences to find something special.

Making Friends

From Friends of JCDS chairman, John Holt:

That's what we do at Friends of JCDS....we make new friends. I've always believed you introduce someone to what JCDS is and does, and they find it hard to resist.
How do I know? It happened to me. Probably ten years ago. A tour of the facility was all it took. I joined the Friends board weeks later for my first two terms.
On April 8, a tour was hopefully all it took for some new friends. The chambers of Overland Park, Olathe, and Northeast Johnson County brought their Leadership classes to visit the Lackman facility. Nearly a hundred of Johnson County's networkers, professionals, and future leaders had a chance to learn all about JCDS and its mission and its challenges. And most important, it’s fantastic people: staff and consumers.
I related my story to them of how I was hooked...and yes....they took tours of the facility, to see JCDS in action, making lives more meaningful.
Just as I had some ten or so years ago.
Now, as Friends of JCDS chairman, serving my second round on the Friend's board, it's a thrill to help tell our story. How Friends works to supplement the fine efforts of passionate staff, and how fundraising and "friendraising" go hand in hand.
Oh yes, the man who helped take me on that tour back then? Mark D. Elmore. I remember him walking me through the building that would one day bear his name in memory of his contributions, after he left us too soon.
Hopefully the tours given to these chamber leaders, and the Lenexa and Shawnee leaders to follow, will have the same impact on them that he had on me back then.
It's all about making new...Friends.

Images Newsletter

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