Roundup: ANCOR Sends Letters on Array of Legislation

To amplify the voice of Medicaid disability providers and people with disabilities in Congress, and connect the dots between more broadly focused legislation and the disability community, ANCOR sent the following three letters:

• A letter of support for voting access legislation sponsored by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA). The legislation has a specific section dedicated to improving voting access for people with disabilities, including training for poll workers and accessibility to polling places for people with physical disabilities.

• A letter of support for a bill creating tax credits for personal protective equipment (PPE) purchases, sponsored by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). The bill would give a tax credit for pandemic-induced PPE expenses that were not covered by Paycheck Protection Program funding. Although ANCOR is generally supportive of the bill, our letter also reinforced the need for longer-term investments in the Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services program to assist with pandemic recovery.

• A letter offering ANCOR as a resource on COVID-19 data collection, penned in response to legislation introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) which has disability-specific provisions. Our letter expresses appreciation for Senator Warren’s efforts to include the disability community as a group for whom data needs to be collected and shares our new data policy recommendations. These recommendations were developed based on conversations within an ANCOR member work group, as well as with broader disability community stakeholders.