This means Congress has until January 30, 2026, to reach a deal on funding bills for all other federal agencies and programs, except for the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The agreement also reinstates all federal employees who received Reduction in Force (RIF) notices – or layoffs – during the shutdown, bans new RIFs until January 2026, and provides backpay to all working and furloughed federal workers who haven’t been paid since September 30, 2025. The Office of Personnel Management has said that federal employees could start to receive backpay as early as Sunday, with a goal of getting all federal employees paid by Wednesday, November 19th.

What Does this Mean for People with Disabilities?

With the shutdown over, funding will again begin to flow to critical programs like SNAP and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a program that helps many people with disabilities heat their homes in the winter.

As of Wednesday, November 12, 25% of states had not paid November SNAP benefits due to conflicting court orders, which are now moot since the shutdown has ended and Congress has appropriated funding for SNAP benefits through September 2026. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the SNAP program, says that funds will be available to states within 24 hours; however, it may take longer for states to load the benefits onto recipients’ EBT cards. Check your state department of human services website for updates about when you can expect to receive your November SNAP benefits.

It may take up to four weeks or more for states to receive LIHEAP grants and distribute energy assistance payments to recipients. The shutdown led many states to pause acceptance of applications due to the lapse in LIHEAP funding, and many states announced a delay in the start of their winter LIHEAP program during the shutdown. Now that a funding bill has been passed into law, it will take time for furloughed federal employees to calculate and distribute funding to the states. State social services departments will also need time to accept and process energy assistance applications. As a result, some states may not be able to distribute benefits until December or even January.

If your energy assistance benefits are interrupted, contact your electric, gas, or oil service provider, explain the situation, and inquire about available arrangements and assistance. Check whether your state has a law that prohibits disconnecting utility services during the winter months.

If your state DOES have a moratorium on disconnection of utility services during cold weather months, it is important that you:

• Beware of scams. Hang up on threatening calls that demand immediate payment or request payment through gift cards, payment apps, or wire transfers.
• If you receive a call demanding immediate payment of utility bills, check your bank account and contact your utility company at its official customer service number to report the call.

Check your state department of human services website for updates about when you can expect to receive energy assistance benefits.

Medicare Extensions Included in Bill

The bill passed by Congress to fund the government and end the shutdown also extends the following provisions for Medicare:

• Telehealth flexibility: The government funding bill extends the ability of healthcare providers to offer care via telehealth until January 30, 2026. This ability was first expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic and last extended in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. This extension is retroactive to October 1, meaning that if you’re on Medicare and received healthcare via telehealth during the shutdown, your provider can submit a claim and be reimbursed for the visit.
• Delay of Medicare Payment Cuts: The bill also delays until the end of January the 2% reduction in Medicare reimbursement rates, which were mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2013. Congress must pass full-year funding bills by January 30, 2026 to further delay this cut.
• Waiver of Mandatory PAYGO Budget Cuts: The government funding agreement also waives the 4% funding cuts to Medicare, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other federal programs mandated by the “Pay-As-You-Go” Congressional budget rules. This means that if Congress spends beyond a certain amount, they must pay for it with new revenue or cut funding by 4% from Medicare and other programs unless Congress waives the rule.
  
  If Congress had not waived the mandatory PAYGO budget cuts, this would have resulted in reduced payments to healthcare providers, Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare prescription drug benefits, and more.

The Fight is Not Over

While the government is reopening today, unfortunately, this agreement does not extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, which are scheduled to end on December 31. Without these vital insurance subsidies, roughly 24 million Americans could face steep premium increases in 2026—some by 100% or more.

These enhanced ACA premium subsidies allow millions of people with disabilities who make too much to be eligible for Medicaid, do not have access to employer-sponsored health insurance,  or are entrepreneurs or self-employed individuals, to afford and maintain health insurance from the ACA marketplace.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has promised to hold a vote on extending the ACA subsidies by mid-December as part of the deal to reopen the government; however, there is no guarantee it will happen.

The shorter-term funding timeline (through January 30) means our work is far from over. Congress will soon return to negotiations on appropriations for the full fiscal year and health insurance subsidies before January 30, 2026, and we need to keep applying pressure.

If you rely on ACA premium subsidies to afford health insurance, we want to hear from you now. Your stories about how these subsidies make coverage accessible are powerful tools to show Congress why they need to act.

Click here to share your story. You can add personal details about how the loss of enhanced ACA premium subsidies would impact your ability to keep healthcare coverage, afford critical medications, or remain independent.

Your voices will help us show how important these subsidies are for millions of Americans with disabilities and others who rely on them for affordable care.

AAPD will keep you updated as this situation unfolds.

The post Explainer: The Government Shutdown Is Over. What Does This Mean for Disabled Americans? appeared first on AAPD.

A Reduction-in-Force (RIF) is a process in which an employer permanently eliminates some positions, resulting in layoffs. For any employer, RIFs can happen for reasons like budget cuts, reorganization, or shifting priorities. Unlike a temporary furlough or hiring freeze, a RIF leads to permanent job loss. In a RIF, not only are employees laid off, but the positions that they worked in are entirely eliminated. In this case, the employer is the federal government, the largest employer of people with disabilities in the country. A RIF reduces the federal capacity to deliver essential services. 

What’s happening now?

On Friday, October 10, the Trump administration issued RIF notices to about 4,100 federal employees across various agencies. These include the Department of Education, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Administration on Children and Families (ACF), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), among others. The Office of Management and Budget, part of the Executive Office of the President that assists the President in implementing their policy, management, and regulatory agenda, has said that more than 10,000 federal employees could receive RIF notices during the shutdown.

On Wednesday, October 15, a federal judge issued an emergency order halting the RIFs while the lawsuit continues, calling them “unlawful.”

Impact on Special Education

Disability offices at the Department of Education have been heavily affected by the RIFs, including:

• The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS)
• The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
• The Office for Civil Rights (OCR)
• The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)
  

These offices are essential for making sure students with disabilities get the right accommodations in schools, and that adults with disabilities can access training, support, and opportunities to join and stay in the workforce.

Why this matters

The loss of staff in these offices results in real harm for disabled people. For example, the mass layoffs in the Department of Education will make it significantly more difficult for people with disabilities to:

• Access special education services guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 
• Obtain reasonable accommodations in educational settings, 
• Secure vocational rehabilitation and employment supports, and; 
• Receive civil rights protections against discrimination in educational settings 

The Office for Civil Rights investigates cases when students with disabilities are denied access to education. For example, in 2018, the Department of Education found that Texas had violated the IDEA by placing a cap on the number of students who could receive special education services. OCR worked with the state to develop a plan ensuring that students with disabilities had access to education and continued to monitor its implementation. Without the staff to conduct this work, thousands of students with disabilities would have lost out on access to education. 

These RIFs are part of a long-term plan by the Trump administration to dismantle and eventually shut down the Department of Education. This effort has been ongoing since the beginning of this year. 

Impact on Mental Health

The RIFs go beyond the Department of Education. Agencies such as SAMHSA, CDC, and HUD — which offer essential health and housing assistance — have also been impacted.

At SAMHSA, the impact is especially concerning. SAMHSA oversees programs that directly support people with mental health and substance use disabilities, including:

• The Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) Program, 
• The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and; 
• National initiatives supporting mental health and addiction treatment.

At a time when the nation is already facing a mental health crisis, reducing SAMHSA’s capacity endangers the stability and safety of millions.

SAMHSA’s work is crucial for improving outcomes, expanding access, and building an equitable, person-centered system for mental health and substance use services. These programs help prevent over-reliance on restrictive hospital settings and make sure that people with disabilities can access the community-based supports they need to live and thrive.

For example, within the cuts to SAMHSA, the Children’s Branch was eliminated. The Children’s Branch helps to support school-based mental health services for children, including children with dually diagnosed disabilities and mental health conditions. Schools are the primary place where kids and youth receive mental health support, especially youth with disabilities, because of the lack of accessible mental health services more broadly. 

Impact on Early Intervention

Within the Administration for Children and Families, all employees working on Preschool Development Grants Birth to Five in the Office of Early Childhood Development were laid off. These employees support grants that are provided to states and territories to facilitate early intervention services and service coordination for children with disabilities. Without publicly funded early intervention services, fewer children will be diagnosed, making it harder to get treatments, accommodations, and special education for years to come. 

Impact on Housing

The HUD Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity investigates and enforces violations of fair housing laws. In just one example of their work, HUD intervened for a disabled veteran in Maine when he was turned away from renting an apartment because he had a service animal. This type of everyday work to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities cannot happen without staff. The majority of the staff in both the national and regional offices of Fair Housing and Equality Opportunity have been laid off.

Many communities with smaller populations around the country have used Section 108 loans from HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development to build large affordable housing communities. High Point, North Carolina, used this funding multiple times to build hundreds of affordable homes for low-income families, many of whom were families with a disabled loved one. But today, there are only two people left on the team that runs and supports this program for the entire country.

RIFs and the Government Shutdown

The administration had previously threatened to issue RIFs in the event of a government shutdown. However, it is essential to understand that a government shutdown does not automatically result in permanent reductions in the federal workforce. The current RIFs are not a result of the shutdown and are being challenged in court. These RIFs are a part of an existing long-term strategy to eliminate certain federal agencies that has been in motion since the beginning of the year. 

What’s next

Disability rights advocates, federal worker unions, and legal experts challenged these RIFs in court, arguing that they violate federal workforce protections and surpass the administration’s authority. As noted above, a federal judge issued an emergency order to stop the layoffs while the legal challenge proceeds. The Trump administration will appeal this emergency order, and the matter is likely to end up before the Supreme Court. AAPD will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates as they become available.

What you can do

Stay informed through AAPD updates and information from our partner organizations. Reach out to the White House via our outreach tool here to tell the Administration that you oppose these RIFs and their unfair impact on the disability community. Urge them to restore critical positions in federal agencies immediately. AAPD’s tool provides a pre-written letter and message, so all you have to do is provide your contact information and hit send.

Additionally, you can share verified information on social media to raise awareness about how these cuts threaten vital services and civil rights protections.

The post Explainer: What the Trump Administration’s Reduction-in-Force Means for People with Disabilities appeared first on AAPD.

The federal government shutdown is now in its fourth week, with no immediate end in sight. As you can read about in our previous explainer, Congress has failed to pass a funding bill, leaving millions without access to critical programs.

On October 22, at least 25 states announced that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will not be paid in November if the shutdown continues. Many people with disabilities depend on SNAP for food, making this an urgent threat to our community. 

While the Trump administration has authorized tariff revenue to fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC benefits), the Trump Administration has said that it will not use any of the $6 billion in reserve funds held by the US Department of Agriculture to fund SNAP. This news arrives just before the holiday season, when many gather with friends and family to share a meal. Some states are using their own emergency funds to pay November SNAP benefits, including California, Colorado, Louisiana, and Virginia; however, not all states have the ability to do this.

Additionally, as the coldest weather since last winter arrives in much of the country, some states have announced delays in starting the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps low-income individuals and families with their home heating costs. Some states may still have funds available to continue providing assistance. Reach out to your state social services department to find out the current status of energy assistance programs in your area.

Also, while housing assistance payments for current Section 8 voucher holders are expected to continue until November, new Section 8 vouchers will not be issued. Landlords will possibly need to cover expenses out of their own pockets if the shutdown lasts a long time and begins to impact housing assistance payments for renters who get Section 8 vouchers. This can lead to foreclosure and greater housing instability. 

In addition to the delays affecting when people with disabilities will receive their benefits, there are also potential delays in processing administrative requests, disability benefits applications, and casework. 

Even if a deal is reached to reopen the government by the end of October, benefits for November will probably be delayed because it will take time for federal agencies to distribute funding to states.

What You Can Do If Your Benefits Are Interrupted

• • Find a local food pantry: feedingamerica.org
  • Seek help from local churches, charities, and organizations like Kelly’s Kitchen. Kelly’s Kitchen also hosts the Food Security Network that you can use to locate food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens, rural farms, urban farms, and food justice organizations.

• If your energy assistance benefits are interrupted, contact your electric, gas, or oil service provider, explain the situation, and ask about available arrangements and assistance. 

• Other companies, like your bank, internet, and cell service provider, may offer flexibility in bill payments if you reach out to them. 
• If you are receiving public assistance currently, Amazon offers a 50% discount on Prime Memberships via the Amazon Access Program, which may help reduce food costs. Also,DoorDash  has launched an emergency food response where they will waive merchant fees for all 300+ Project DASH partner food banks, food pantries, and community organizations nationwide, cover the delivery and service fees for about 300,000 orders for SNAP recipients, and donate directly to local food banks.
• On Thursday, October 30th at 3 PM Eastern, the National Council on Independent Living will host a virtual Community Conversation about how the government shutdown is affecting programs like SNAP, how to find food resources to fill the gap, and how local Centers for Independent Living can assist people with disabilities who are experiencing food insecurity. ASL and CART will be provided. Click here to register.

Take Action

Contact your Members of Congress and urge them to reopen the government before tens of millions of people, including many people with disabilities, face even more hardship. Your advocacy matters and can make a real difference.

We will keep you updated as the situation develops. Thank you for your commitment to supporting disabled people.

Previous versions of this resource

On Wednesday, October 1, at 12:01 AM, part of the federal government shut down because Congress could not  agree on a funding plan. As of now, the government has been shut down for two weeks. Congress and the White House are still working to reach a deal to reopen it.

What Happens During a Government Shutdown?

When the government shuts down, all “non-essential” government activities come to a halt. Essential workers — such as those in defense, national security, or air traffic control — keep working. Some get paid, and others are expected to work without pay. Most other federal employees are sent home and do not receive pay until Congress funds the government again, which is called a furlough.

Right now, around 750,000 federal workers are furloughed. If the shutdown goes on, many might miss their next paycheck and have trouble paying rent, mortgages, or other bills. Furloughed federal workers are required by law to receive pay that covers the time that they were furloughed, but the White House has illegally threatened that this may not happen for federal employees affected by this shutdown. 

Why Is Congress Stuck?

Congress cannot agree on how to fund the government. The President and many Republicans want to pass a short-term seven-week funding bill. However, Democrats prefer a longer-term deal that also:

• Extends enhanced health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which are scheduled to expire this year. These subsidies are called ACA Tax Credits. ACA Tax Credits lower the cost of health care for people who receive health insurance through their state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace.  
• Cancels Medicaid cuts that were passed earlier this year.
• Ensures the President cannot block funding that Congress already approved. Since January, the Trump administration has refused to disburse funding for many federal programs that were authorized by Congress without following the proper procedure under the Impoundment Control Act, which limits the President’s ability to cancel spending approved by Congress.

If those insurance subsidies expire, around 24 million Americans could face steep premium increases in 2026 — some by 100% or more.

The $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts included in the budget reconciliation bill passed this summer will cause millions of Americans to lose access to healthcare coverage, home- and community-based services, employment support services, and other vital benefits if those cuts are not repealed.

How the Shutdown Affects Government Programs

Medicaid and Medicare:

Medicaid and Medicare benefits will continue during the shutdown.

Medicare and Medicaid are funded separately from regular government operations, so those benefits will stay active even in a shutdown. 

However, some people might not be able to get help with tasks like Medicaid eligibility verification because of reduced staffing at federal agencies. Additionally, healthcare providers may experience delays in processing claims. It may be harder for people who depend on Medicare and/or Medicaid to access healthcare during the shutdown. About 43% of adults with disabilities under age 65 are covered by Medicaid. Medicaid covers over half of all long-term care in the United States. 

Medicare provides health insurance coverage for people 65 and older.  Approximately 45% of all Medicare beneficiaries report having a disability, while about 12% of beneficiaries are under age 65 and qualify for Medicare due to a disability, meaning there are a significant number of both older and younger individuals with disabilities who are covered by Medicare. 

Social Security and Disability Benefits:

Social Security payments will continue being paid as scheduled.

Social Security provides benefits for low-income children and adults with disabilities, retirees, older adults, and surviving spouses and children of deceased individuals  through a variety of programs. 

This includes:

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) 
• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
• Social Security Retirement and Survivor benefits

These benefits are funded separately from the government’s annual budget, so they are unaffected by the shutdown. However, some services — such as obtaining a replacement Medicare card or a benefit verification letter — may be delayed or interrupted due to staffing furloughs. If people have any problems with their Social Security benefits during the shutdown, it will take longer to fix those problems, potentially cutting people off from benefits they need to live. Check the Social Security Administration’s website for updates on which services are available.

SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits:

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a program that helps low income people buy the food they need for good health. About 80% of households who receive SNAP benefits are households with children, a disabled person, or an older adult. People with disabilities are more likely to be food insecure than people without disabilities, which means that SNAP is an essential program to make sure many people with disabilities do not go hungry and still have healthy food to eat. 

The federal government sends states SNAP benefits every month, and then states send these benefits to low income individuals who are eligible for SNAP. The October SNAP benefits have already been distributed to states, so payments to individuals will be made on schedule. However, if the shutdown continues, November SNAP benefits might be delayed or interrupted, and people will go hungry, including people with disabilities and their families. 

WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) benefits: 

WIC funding could run out within days because the program has not yet received new funding for the new fiscal year, which started on October 1. Some states may fill the gap with their own funds, but others cannot.

WIC benefits support pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding individuals, as well as their infants and children. If funds run out, families could lose access to food benefits, including formula for babies. Parents with disabilities and babies with disabilities are among those who will be hurt if WIC benefits run out. 

The White House has announced that it plans to use revenue from tariffs — taxes on goods imported from overseas — to fund WIC. However, the details of that plan are not yet clear. 

Food stores that need to renew their WIC or SNAP licenses may also have to wait until the shutdown ends.

If your SNAP or WIC benefits are delayed, you can visit Feeding America to locate a nearby food bank or food pantry. Additionally, many churches, community centers, or charity organizations in your local area may be able to assist if SNAP or WIC benefits are disrupted.

Housing Assistance

Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher benefits will continue. However, a long-lasting shutdown could delay lease renewals or jeopardize payments, causing landlords to cover the shortfall with their own funds. This may cause landlords to fall into foreclosure and cause housing instability for their tenants.

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program helps eligible low-income families, seniors, and individuals with disabilities afford housing in the private rental market by providing vouchers that subsidize a portion of their rent. About 25% of Section 8 beneficiaries are people with disabilities. People with disabilities face many barriers to housing, and Section 8 is an important program to help disabled people keep a roof over their head during the shutdown.  

If you receive a Section 8 housing voucher, you are still responsible for paying your share of rent during the shutdown, even if you are experiencing additional financial hardship due to the shutdown.

Other services, like housing inspections and new housing assistance applications, will be paused until the government reopens.

Energy Assistance

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is affected during the shutdown, but the impact on families varies by state. LIHEAP helps low-income households cover their energy bills, which includes many families with disabilities. During the shutdown, states will not receive new grants to assist families with electric or gas bills. Additionally, the entire staff of the Division of Energy Assistance at the Administration for Children and Families, which manages LIHEAP, had their jobs cut earlier this year.

Some states might have leftover funds to keep offering assistance. Contact your local or state social services department to learn about the current status of energy assistance programs in your state.

If your energy assistance benefits are interrupted, contact your electric, gas, or oil service provider, explain the situation, and inquire about available arrangements and assistance. Utility companies understand that shutdowns are heavily affecting consumers who depend on energy assistance programs.

What You Can Do

Call Your Bank and Other Creditors if You Need Help

If your benefits are delayed or disrupted and you need to use your own funds to buy groceries instead of paying utility, cell phone, or other bills, contact your bank or service provider and explain the situation. Financial institutions, including banks, credit card companies, and utility providers, are aware that a federal government shutdown can cause financial hardship for many people. They may be able to offer flexible arrangements, such as postponing payment due dates until the shutdown ends. While there’s no guarantee they will do so, it’s worthwhile to ask what they can do to support your financial security during this time.

Contact Your Representatives and Senators

AAPD urges people with disabilities and their allies to contact their Senators and Representatives and implore them to:

• Fund and reopen the government,
• Protect access to healthcare, and;
• Prevent further harm to people who rely on federal benefits.

The longer the shutdown continues, the harder it will be for families, especially those with disabilities or low incomes, to make ends meet. Additionally, if federal workers miss paychecks, it can have a significant impact on the broader economy.

The post Explainer: What the Government Shutdown Means for SNAP, WIC, and Disability Programs appeared first on AAPD.

Founded by grassroots disabled activists in Texas in 2016, REV UP maintains the core belief that change happens at the local level and that disabled leaders must be at the forefront of building an accessible democracy. REV UP’s commitment to providing community funding through initiatives like the REV UP Small Grants helps ensure that disabled leaders have the resources and support they need to best reach their communities. In 2025, we are proud to be giving out $92,500 in small grants to 17 organizations across 11 states. 

The Transformation Project 

State: South Dakota
Organization Overview: The Transformation Project is a Sioux Falls-based nonprofit that empowers transgender and gender non-conforming individuals across South Dakota. Through programs like Marty’s Closet, name-change assistance, support groups, and South Dakota’s first LGBTQ2S+ center, Prism, the organization fosters understanding, celebrates identity, and builds community for TGNC people and their families.

Project Summary: In 2025, The Transformation Project will launch “Neurodivergent Voices Count,” a civic engagement series specifically for neurodivergent LGBTQ2S+ youth ages 16–24. Hosted at the Prism Community Center, the four-part workshop series will use sensory-friendly activities, voting simulations, and peer-led discussion to build confidence and voting literacy in a safe and affirming space. The goal is to engage 50 youth, register 20 new voters or pledges, and develop accessible civic materials in South Dakota where few tailored resources currently exist. Youth advisors will help lead the planning, and all events will incorporate accessibility tools including stim kits, quiet rooms, visual aids.

Washington Civil & Disability Advocate (WACDA)
State: Washington
Organization Overview: Based in Seattle, WACDA is a legal and civil rights nonprofit that centers disability justice through advocacy, education, and free legal services. WACDA helps people with disabilities navigate barriers to access and dignity, while advocating for policy change across Washington state.

Project Summary: WACDA will host Seattle’s first disability-centered citywide candidate forum in 2025, connecting people with disabilities, their families, and caregivers directly with those running for Mayor, City Attorney, and City Council. The event will be co-created with at least 15 disabled community members who will help craft the candidate questions and conduct community outreach. The forum will also feature on-site voter registration, accessibility support (ASL, captions, hybrid format), and live polling to gather feedback. By educating both voters and candidates, the project builds political power in communities historically excluded from civic decision-making.

Keystone Progress Education Fund

State: Pennsylvania
Organization Overview: Keystone Progress Education Fund is a long-standing leader in progressive civic education, digital organizing, and coalition building across Western Pennsylvania. Their work focuses on reaching disabled people, incarcerated individuals, and people seeking comprehensive reproductive healthcare, particularly in under-resourced urban and rural areas of Western Pennsylvania. 

Project Summary: In 2025, Keystone Progress will bring voting access directly into Skilled Nursing Facilities, spaces where disabled residents often face compounded barriers to civic participation. The program will train staff, residents, and disability advocates on how to support voter registration and absentee ballot access, using a replicable curriculum that includes a handbook, accessible slide deck, and hands-on training. With a goal of training six voter advocates, implementing the program in at least three facilities, and supporting over 70 residents with voting, the project addresses a critical equity gap. 

BLAC–SWPA (Black Liberation Autonomous Collective of Southwestern PA)
State: Pennsylvania
Organization Overview: BLAC–SWPA is the first youth-led nonprofit in the region founded by and for Black trans youth. Focused on civic education, mutual aid, and healing justice, they support queer and disabled Black youth who have been excluded from traditional systems and often face multiple layers of harm and disenfranchisement.

Project Summary: BLAC–SWPA’s 2025 project, “From Isolation to Influence,” is a three-part series of civic healing gatherings for Black trans disabled youth. Each trauma-informed event will combine voter education, movement, creative expression, and peer support. The goal: to transform shame into solidarity, and political isolation into empowered participation. The series aims to reach at least 75 youth, with over half reporting increased civic confidence and at least 30 committing to vote or organize in the future. Events will offer  ASL, transportation support, and sensory kit, and will be spaces rooted in joy, healing, and disability justice. Led by youth with lived experience, this is the first project of its kind in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

One Heart One Vision Inc.
State: New York
Organization Overview: One Heart One Vision (OHOV) is a grassroots nonprofit led by blind/low-vision and disabled women, dedicated to empowering blind/low vision and disabled women from underserved neighborhoods across the country. The organization provides community services, social connection, education, and disability advocacy.

Project Summary: In 2025, OHOV is launching GIVE – Girls Involved in Voter Registration and Education, a civic engagement program for blind and disabled girls ages 15–25. The GIVE program trains young women to lead voter registration drives, host outreach events, and educate their peers on the voting process using both in-person and virtual platforms. GIVE events will be held monthly throughout NYC, targeting high schools, colleges, and youth-centered disability spaces. The project aims to register 100 disabled youth voters and will use mentorship, social media campaigns, and accessible swag to connect with Gen Z. The initiative is entirely led by disabled women and girls.

Denison University – DU Votes
State: Ohio
Organization Overview: DU Votes is a nonpartisan, student-led civic engagement organization at Denison University, committed to expanding voter access, education, and turnout. In partnership with the Denison Disability Advocacy Association (DDAA), the League of Women Voters, and other community groups, DU Votes is working to build an inclusive democracy on campus and across Licking County.

Project Summary: For Disability Voting Rights Week (Sept 8–12, 2025), DU Votes will launch a campus- and county-wide campaign to educate, register, and empower voters with disabilities. Programming will include educational tabling, a public panel on disability voting rights, and voter registration drives in collaboration with local partners like the Licking County Board of Developmental Disabilities. Voter resource kits with accessible information will be distributed throughout the year. The campaign aims to register 120 new voters (students and residents) and educate over 550 individuals on voting access and disability rights. Panels, pamphlets in braille, closed captioning, and ASL interpretation (budget allowing) will ensure accessibility for all.

Metropolitan Asian Deaf Association (MADA)
State: New York
Organization Overview: The Metropolitan Asian Deaf Association (MADA) works to empower and preserve Asian cultural values within the Deaf community in the Greater New York Metropolitan Area and beyond. MADA rallies Deaf and Hard of Hearing Asian-American and immigrant communities within the Greater New York area and beyond for civic engagement, accessibility, and racial justice.

Project Summary: Building on its 2024 efforts, MADA will expand voter outreach and education to Deaf and Disabled Asian Americans in NYC and other major cities. Their 2025 project will include bilingual ASL voter education workshops, in-person registration drives at events like the Deaf Asian Street Festival, and social media campaigns featuring GOTV videos in ASL with captions. With a goal of registering at least 25 new voters, the project will also provide culturally relevant support to new voters and partner with nonprofits serving Deaf and BIPOC communities. The team of Deaf ASL users will ensure that language access, accessibility, and cultural context are central to every phase of the work.

CUNY Coalition for Students with Disabilities at York College (CCSD@York)
State: New York
Organization Overview: CCSD@York is a student-led group advocating for the rights and inclusion of disabled students at York College, CUNY. Located in Jamaica, Queens, the organization engages BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and low-income students with disabilities through civic education and peer organizing.

Project Summary: For the first time, York College will see a campus-wide disability-led civic campaign. CCSD@York will host a campus-wide, disability-led civic campaign called “Vote Without Limits.” During October 2025, the initiative will include voter registration drives, peer-led workshops, and a disability-centered candidate forum. The campaign aims to register at least 50 new voters and increase political participation among disabled young adults in Southeast Queens. 

Disability Rights & Resources
State: North Carolina
Organization Overview: Disability Rights & Resources is a Center for Independent Living based in Charlotte, NC, serving people with disabilities across Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg, and Union counties. The cross-disability organization works to support people with disabilities in living, working, and participating in the community.

Project Summary: Building on a successful 2024 project, Disability Rights & Resources will expand its accessible voting education through a three-part training series. The series will include a “Know Your Voting Rights” workshop designed in plain language for youth with intellectual disabilities, poll worker training in partnership with the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, and a new “NC Disability Voting Rights” card for voters to carry. The project will also include taking summer youth program participants (Summer of Independent Living or SOIL) on a field trip to the local Board of Elections office to practice casting their vote on either standard or accessible voting machines, depending on their individual needs.  

Project READY
State: New York
Organization Overview: Project READY is a grassroots nonprofit serving Asian American families and individuals with developmental disabilities across the New York metro area. Founded by and for families, the organization provides advocacy, education, and inclusive support to empower the community and ensure equal access to civic life.

Project Summary: Project READY is launching the Asian American Disability Voting Coalition, the first of its kind in New York. Through the coalition, partners across the state will lead bilingual voter education sessions titled “You Can Vote Too!” focused on correcting misconceptions about voting rights for people with developmental disabilities. Digital outreach, social media campaigns, and multilingual materials will support widespread civic participation—reaching over 1,300 individuals. The coalition’s culturally and linguistically relevant approach aims to break down barriers to voting for one of the most underserved communities in the disability rights movement.

League of Women Voters of Greater Rockford
State: Illinois
Organization Overview: The League of Women Voters of Greater Rockford is a nonpartisan organization committed to empowering voters and strengthening democracy through education, advocacy, and community engagement.

Project Summary: The Rockford League will host two major civic engagement events in 2025: Light 4 Democracy during Disability Voting Rights Week and the Your Voice, Your Vote Civic Empowerment Fair in September. These events will center disabled youth, immigrants with disabilities and mixed-status families, and multiply marginalized voters offering accessible voter education, legal rights materials, multilingual support, and trauma-informed outreach to break down participation barriers and support informed, safe civic engagement. The events and materials will include community space and resources that acknowledge the presence of ICE and support voter safety.

LWSC Community Circle
State: Michigan
Organization Overview: LWSC Community Circle is a grassroots, intergenerational Black women-led collective rooted in disability justice, healing, and mutual aid. Based in Detroit, the group serves Black and brown disabled communities, particularly those with invisible disabilities, through political education, restorative gatherings, and affirming spaces that challenge isolation and systemic injustice.

Project Summary: The #WinFromWithin initiative will host monthly community-led, healing-centered gatherings for Black disabled individuals, especially women, nonbinary people, and caregivers. The events will reach people living with invisible disabilities such as chronic illness, neurodivergence, and trauma-related mental health conditions, intentionaly working to engage those who have been disconnected from traditional organizing or civic engagement due to systemic barriers, medical neglect, or stigma. Many in the #WinFromWithin audience may not identify with mainstream disability labels but are deeply impacted by ableism, racism, and state violence. The events will blend political education, storytelling, and joyful cultural connection, creating spaces where people with invisible disabilities can build power, deepen solidarity, and engage in civic life from a place of rest and relationship.

REV UP Georgia
State: Georgia
Organization Overview: REV UP Georgia is a grassroots, disability-led initiative working to build the political power of people with disabilities—particularly in rural communities of color. Primary leadership is disabled people of color in those rural communities. The coalition’s mission is to ensure that every person has the tools, access, and support they need to participate fully in civic life. 

Project Summary: REV UP Georgia will launch the Gaylon Tootle Youth Power & Participation Toolkit as part of its “Are You Vote Ready?” campaign. Co-designed by youth with disabilities from rural communities of color, the project will train 30 Youth Vote Ambassadors to lead accessible, peer-driven outreach efforts. Through pop-up events, digital campaigns, and leadership development, the initiative will uplift a new generation of disabled civic leaders across Georgia.

FEBO Vintage Rare Inc.
State: Georgia
Organization Overview: FEBO Vintage Rare Inc. is a nonprofit, nonpartisan grassroots organization focused on expanding voter education and engagement among Black disabled voters in West Savannah and surrounding precincts. Through canvassing, rallies, and resource events, FEBO connects residents with tools to participate in elections and build community power.

Project Summary: FEBO will host its 3rd Annual Juneteenth Celebration in West Savannah, combining cultural festivities with voter education, registration, and rides to the polls. The event will feature music, food, games, and an ADA-accessible environment (including for the first time, ADA-accessible porta pottys). The project will also be providing accessible transportation to older adults and people with disabilities to the polls. Voters will be able to connect to this service at the event. 

DEAFs, Inc. (Deaf Empowering Advocating Florida Southwest, Inc.)
State: Florida
Organization Overview: DEAFs, Inc. is a Deaf-led nonprofit based in Southwest Florida serving the Deaf and DeafBlind community across five counties. Founded in 2023, the organization provides education, advocacy, and communication access with a mission to empower Deaf individuals and foster an inclusive society.

Project Summary: Through their inaugural civic engagement initiative, BUILD UP, DEAFs, Inc. will offer ASL-accessible workshops, one-on-one voter education, and leadership development to increase Deaf and DeafBlind participation in civic life. The project will also recruit and train Deaf and hearing allies to serve as ASL-accessible poll workers and community liaisons. This project introduces the first fully ASL-accessible civic engagement initiative in the region, addressing a critical gap in voter education, accessibility, and leadership for Deaf and DeafBlind individuals. The grant will  fund interpreters, materials, outreach, and training that would otherwise be unavailable to an underserved community.

BAIN, Inc.
State: Georgia
Organization Overview: BAIN, Inc. is a Center for Independent Living serving ten counties in Southwest Georgia. With a focus on disability rights and independent living, BAIN works to remove barriers in transportation, voting, and community access for individuals with disabilities—especially those in rural areas.

Project Summary: BAIN will enhance polling place accessibility by conducting ADA compliance surveys at key polling locations during peak voting times, training poll workers, and offering transportation stipends to 25 voters with disabilities. The initiative will also distribute accessible voter materials to ensure voters with disabilities can cast their ballots during the 2025 election.

The Arc Arizona
State: Arizona
Organization Overview: The Arc of Arizona is a statewide nonprofit dedicated to advancing the rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and ensuring their full inclusion in all aspects of community life, including civic participation. With a network of over 10,000 individuals, The Arc Arizona works to advocate with and alongside rural, underserved, and multiply marginalized disability communities

Project Summary: The Arc Arizona will launch a nonpartisan voter engagement campaign tailored to individuals with IDD, particularly those in rural and underserved areas. The campaign includes in-person outreach, digital education, and plain-language materials to help voters navigate registration and access the polls. Grounded in feedback from self-advocates, the initiative will focus on communities often excluded from civic life and will work to educate voters who may now have the right to vote, after Arizona’s law around guardianship and voting changed in 2024.

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The post Medicaid State Advocacy Guides appeared first on AAPD.

To access this resource as a PDF, click here.

What does it mean to advocate?

Advocacy simply means promoting the best interests and needs of a person or a group, including yourself. Advocates identify a problem and voice their opinion about potential solutions.

Why should you advocate?

An advocate is anyone who presses for change and improvement to the status quo to better their own lives and the lives of their communities. Advocacy helps people become more involved in important decisions that affect their daily lives, enables the voices of the masses to be heard, and, if done effectively, can sway policies and laws for the better. 

How do you advocate?

You can advocate in multiple ways, and you should engage in as many levels and ways as possible. Advocacy can happen at the local, state, and federal levels. You can 

• Participate in town hall and city council meetings
• Join organizations that support causes important to you
• Spread awareness and knowledge on social media
• Produce data and research that highlights your community’s pressing needs
• Host educational conferences and trainings

Who should you be talking to? 

Aside from raising awareness among your community and working in coalition with like-minded people and organizations, you should be talking to local, state, and federal-level decision-makers and politicians. Meet with your local and state officials as often as possible and send them emails, letters, petitions, and phone calls. You can do the same with your members of Congress as well. Try to meet with your member of Congress in person while they are at their in-district offices during congressional recess. You can also meet with them virtually if it is more accessible and if the offices can set it up.

Find your elected officials here. 

Where do you advocate? 

Face-to-face meetings with elected officials are the best way to communicate your message. You can meet with them or their staff in their offices in Washington, D.C, or their districts. While it is always great to advocate directly in front of your members of Congress in their DC offices, it is not always accessible to travel that far.  Members are often in recess, so they hold meetings within their state and district. Below are the steps to schedule either a Capitol Hill meeting or an in-district meeting with your elected officials. 

1. Find the contact information for your elected officials and their staffers here. 
2. Send an invitation to the office and request a meeting to discuss your concerns – you are more likely to meet with a staffer than the official themselves, but these meetings with staffers are just as important. 
3. Don’t be afraid to follow up if you don’t hear back within a reasonable time (they are busy people, but so are you!)
4. Once you hear back, respond with an email confirming your attendance and thanking the office.
5. Research the representative or senator and the issues that are important to them or what they are known for, and find ways to connect your problems and concerns to their areas of interest. 
6. Create a state/district-specific one-pager to leave behind
   1. For example, AAPD has a Medicaid leave-behind on our website that is free for everyone to use
7. Make it personal and tell your story! The whole point of this meeting is for elected officials and their staffers to hear from the people they are directly representing
8. Send a follow-up email after the meeting – thank them for their time, reiterate your message, and include any materials that were referenced or promised during the discussion

What should you be talking about?

One of the mottos of the disability community is “every issue is a disability issue”. However, you have limited time when speaking with a member of Congress and/or their staff, so you must pick the most urgent issue to discuss with them. This is often an issue that is a top priority for your area/state and relevant to the current political atmosphere. For example, since the start of President Trump’s second term, the top issues AAPD has been working on are cuts to Medicaid and the dismantling of the Department of Education. You can find talking points for those issues on our website. 

The post AAPD Advocacy Guide appeared first on AAPD.

To access this resource as a PDF, click here.

The Issue

Medicaid supports over 70 million Americans, especially people with disabilities, by providing essential services like healthcare, Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), employment supports, and school-based care, including preventive health screenings and physical, occupational, and speech therapies.

Right now, the system is already strained. There is a severe shortage of care workers, and over 700,000 people with disabilities are on waiting lists for HCBS, most of which are delivered through Medicaid I/DD waivers. The proposed cuts of $930 billion would further endanger access to critical services and deepen this crisis. Cutting or converting Medicaid funding to block grants could reduce services and increase wait times, forcing more people into institutional care and limiting their independence.

Additionally, the proposed change to impose mandatory work requirements for Medicaid is also dangerous since most adult beneficiaries are already working or are exempt from work requirements because they are unable to work. The consequences would be devastating; up to 5.2 million Medicaid beneficiaries could lose their coverage in 2026. 

Medicaid is the nation’s largest health insurer and is critical to the financial stability of our healthcare system, particularly in rural areas where often providers are already operating on scarce funds. In 2023, over 700 rural hospitals faced potential closure, predominantly in states that did not adopt Medicaid expansion. Therefore, reducing Medicaid funding would trigger a significant healthcare crisis in rural communities. Also, it would make things harder for family caregivers, who benefit from Medicaid as enrollees and the Medicaid-covered services for their care recipient. About 1 out of 10 family caregivers nationally receive Medicaid coverage for their own health care.

Medicaid can be the difference between life and death for our most vulnerable communities. Please join us in fighting to preserve and expand Medicaid, instead of supporting devastating cuts.

Calls to Action

• Do NOT support any cuts to Medicaid, including per-capita caps, work requirements, or block grants 
• Make sure Medicaid is fully funded and supported, and spread that message throughout Congress and the states—your constituents need and deserve full access to Medicaid!

The post Reject Harmful Cuts to Medicaid appeared first on AAPD.

Note: This resource is based on a rapidly evolving situation and will be updated as we receive more information.

UPDATE from July 3, 2025:

Last night, the House started a vote on the rule to open debate around 9:30 pm ET. Initially, the rule did not have enough votes to pass, but vote was held open for five hours in order to get some Members of Congress to change their vote. The rule passed 219-213, and the bill could move forward for a full floor vote. The only Republican member of Congress to vote no was Representative Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania, the Chair of the Bi-Partisan Disabilities Caucus.

The House floor is currently debating the Senate-passed version with no changes. Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been speaking for more than four hours reading stories about the importance of Medicaid from all 50 states. There is still time to contact your Representatives to ask them to oppose this bill and to protect Medicaid and SNAP.

UPDATE from July 2, 2025 at 7:53PM:

Current State of Play: Speaker Johnson brought the House to the floor today to vote on the rule to debate and the budget reconciliation text from the Senate, but the Republican  leadership is short of the votes needed to pass the rule for debate. The House floor has been frozen since the vote began around 2:00 pm ET as the leadership tries to have conversations to sway Members of Congress who have not decided how they will vote yet. This means that the bill is stalled. 

The content of the bill is still the same as what was in the Senate bill. It is critical that you contact your Representatives to ask them to oppose this bill and to protect Medicaid and SNAP.

UPDATE from July 2, 2025:

Current State of Play: Early Wednesday morning, the House Rules Committee advanced the budget reconciliation bill after 12 hours of debate. The House Rules Committee plays an important role in determining how a bill will be considered on the floor. The committee can set time limits for debate, restrict or allow amendments, and even determine how certain amendments will be handled. 

There were no changes to the Senate’s version of the budget reconciliation bill in the House Rules Committee. The content of the bill remains the same as described in the update from July 1st update. The House is set to convene Wednesday morning and start voting on the rules to advance the legislation.

UPDATE from July 1, 2025:

Current State of Play: The Senate passed its version of the budget reconciliation bill on July 1st, with Vice President Vance casting a tie-breaking vote. This bill must still pass the House in order to be final.  Contact your Representatives to ask them to oppose this bill and to protect Medicaid and SNAP. 

The Senate budget reconciliation bill makes the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, almost $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts. This is about 20% of the federal Medicaid budget and would cause 17 million people to lose access to healthcare. The bill also contains nearly $200 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Four out of five households that receive SNAP benefits include a person with a disability. If passed by the House, these cuts will mean that disabled people and our families will go hungry. 

Throughout the Vote-A-Rama process, amendments were passed that changed what was in the original bill. Some parts of the bill were also taken out because they violated rules about what can be voted on by a simple majority through the reconciliation process. 

The following amendments were added to the Senate bill:

• The rural health fund was increased to $50 billion from $25 billion. It directs money to mental health and behavioral health clinics, but not other disability-specific providers.
• Minor funding for Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS)

Neither of the increases within these amendments will come close to fully addressing the closures of rural health providers or the reduction of HCBS that this bill will cause if passed by the House.  

Some dangerous provisions got removed:

• The Medicaid funding reduction for states that cover undocumented immigrants with their own funds. This means that states that provide Medicaid coverage for undocumented immigrants with state funding will still receive their full federal match for Medicaid. 
• The prohibition on Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care. 
• A requirement for Medicaid applicants to verify citizenship 
• A 5-year moratorium on the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms by states as a condition of accessing funding for broadband infrastructure and bridging the digital divide faced by marginalized communities. This means that states can still 

But there are many harmful parts remaining. Here are a few examples of what’s still in the bill:

• Stricter work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and increased program costs for states with high overpayment rates
• A one-year prohibition on Medicaid payments to reproductive health 
• Medicaid cuts to states through provider tax caps, work requirements, more frequent eligibility determinations, and new copays for Medicaid recipients. All of these changes will make it harder for people to become eligible for and stay on Medicaid, resulting in people losing benefits. 
• A national school voucher program that will divert $30 billion from public schools to fund private school tuition, making it more difficult for students with disabilities to access special education services

What’s Next? We take the fight to the House. 

This fight is not over. Because the bill the Senate passed is different from the bill the House passed, the House has to pass this version of the bill for these changes to be final.

The House Rules Committee has already come together to prepare the Senate-passed bill for House floor consideration. The bill could be on the House floor as early as Wednesday morning, and debate and final votes on the Senate-passed bill begin. Please contact your Representatives to ask them to oppose this bill and to protect Medicaid and SNAP. 

We are encouraged that some House members have already indicated their opposition to this harmful legislation. We urge everyone to contact their Representatives immediately and demand they vote NO on this destructive bill.

 AAPD is firmly against any legislation that undermines the rights and well-being of people with disabilities. We call on Congress to protect Medicaid and ensure that people with disabilities have continued access to the services they need to thrive.

UPDATE from June 29, 2025:

Current state of play: Very late on Saturday night, the Senate passed the motion to proceed by a vote of 51-49. Passage of the motion to proceed allows the Senate to begin debate on the reconciliation bill.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) joined with all Senate Democrats voting against the motion to proceed. Senator Paul has been outspoken in his opposition to the bill because of its substantial increase to the federal debt. Senator Tillis has been making headlines for his very recent, but very vocal, opposition to the bill’s Medicaid cuts.

After intense negotiations with Senate Republican leadership and Vice President Vance, several Republican holdouts withdrew their opposition. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) reported that he and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) agreed to vote for the motion in exchange for an amendment to the final bill that would end the 90% Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) for Medicaid expansion. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) did not confirm Senator Johnson’s statement. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was given several Alaska-specific provisions, including an increased FMAP for the state (although this was later ruled out by the parliamentarian after senator Murkowski voted for the motion to proceed). A previously included $25 billion rural hospital fund was enough to quell opposition from Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).

Next steps: Last night’s vote was only the beginning of the Senate floor process. Senate Democrats are forcing a full reading of the 900+ page bill by the Senate clerks. The Senate has now entered 20 continuous hours of debate, called “vote-a-rama.” The hours are divided evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats will likely use all of their 10 hours of debate to highlight the unpopular parts of the bill. Republicans will probably forfeit most of their time to speed up vote-a-rama. If all stays on track for Republicans, a vote on the final bill should occur sometime on Monday.

Negotiations with Senate Parliamentarian still not finished: While a Monday vote is ideal for Senate Republicans, Sunday morning rulings from the Senate parliamentarian are casting doubt on that goal. The parliamentarian is still working but here’s what we know as of now, according to Senate Democrats. As of writing, more than 209 amendments have been filed.

What’s been removed from the bill?:
Repealing parts of the Biden era eligibility and enrollment rule for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
Repealing parts of the eligibility and enrollment rule for the Medicare Shared Savings Program
Repealing parts of the nursing home staffing rule
Increased FMAP for high poverty states – this is an Alaska-specific provision
Increased payment for outpatient hospital treatments in Alaska and Hawaii
Expansion of the orphan drug exclusion in Medicare drug price negotiations

What’s still in the bill?:
Provider tax language provision that remains unchanged from Saturday morning draft
Limiting receipt of Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits by certain immigrants
Barring Medicare participation for most non-citizens

What does this all mean?: Passage of any sort of reconciliation bill is not guaranteed! Thune continues to say a Monday vote is aspirational, and parliamentarian rulings are making that even harder. This makes all the more important that your Senators need to hear from you NOW that you oppose this budget and all cuts to Medicaid. Click here to tell them to vote NO on cuts to Medicaid and SNAP!

*If* the bill passes the Senate, it still has to be passed by the House. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) says he will give House members 48 hours to return to DC to vote. As of now, several House Republicans are on record as no votes, with a potential final vote occurring Wednesday or Thursday.

Original Post from June 28, 2025:

This weekend, the Senate is trying to pass the budget reconciliation bill. AAPD is an outspoken opponent of the budget reconciliation bill, because of its significant cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other essential programs. 

The Senate Parliamentarian – a person whose job is to help the Senate follow its rules – found that some key parts of the bill violate budget reconciliation rules (read more about the budget reconciliation process here). In response, Senate leadership released a rewritten 1000-page bill early this morning. The Senate is trying to push through a vote on it today, even though there is no way Senators will be able to read all 1000 pages of the bill before they vote. 

This is especially concerning because the contents of this bill have the power to drastically change the country by taking away food and healthcare from millions of Americans, force millions of Americans into poverty, and kill at least 51,000 Americans every year whose deaths would have otherwise been preventable without this budget.

Your Senators need to hear from you NOW that you oppose this budget and all cuts to Medicaid. Click here to tell them to vote NO on cuts to Medicaid and SNAP!

The bill caps Medicaid provider taxes, which  makes it harder for states to fund Medicaid. Currently, Medicaid makes up 30% of state budgets, much of which is funded by Medicaid provider taxes. The bill also cuts federal Medicaid funding for states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, or currently provide coverage to undocumented immigrants with their own state funds. The bill also requires more people who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to work, also known as “work requirements.” SNAP is an essential program that helps millions of people with disabilities, seniors, and their families buy food each month.

These rules will add substantial new costs for states, which could result in state cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, or other key areas like education and transportation. 

In addition, the revised bill says that states are not allowed to regulate Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms for ten years. States must agree to this if they want to access the bill’s funds for AI deployment and increasing access to broadband internet. States are more likely to agree to this because they want – or need – to access the bill’s $500 million in AI deployment and $42 billion in broadband internet funding. 

Artificial intelligence is a fast-evolving technology, and regulatory frameworks around AI are still under development. Without regulations and laws, it is easier for AI to discriminate based on disability, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender, or other identities. This leaves marginalized groups, including people with disabilities, at risk of discrimination by the AI platforms and algorithms the government and many companies are now  using for everything from hiring processes to approving (or denying) benefit applications.

There are some positive things in the bill that would help disabled people. The bill does include minor funding increases for Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waivers. It also extends certain tax advantages for people with disabilities who have ABLE Accounts. These tax benefits help people with disabilities save money, which can be used for expenses that Medicaid or other insurance does not cover. 

However, these helpful parts are overshadowed by the bill’s massive cuts to Medicaid. These cuts would result in new, burdensome administrative and work requirements that will result in many people being unenrolled from Medicaid, even though they qualify for it. 

AAPD remains strongly opposed to the budget reconciliation bill. 

If successful, this afternoon’s procedural vote will trigger what is known as a “Vote-a-Rama”.  During this step of reconciliation, any Senator can offer an amendment to the bill to add or remove harmful provisions.  Once the Senate votes on final passage, the bill has to go back to the House of Representatives to work out the differences between the Senate Bill and the House Bill. Once the House approves the Senate’s version, the bill goes to the President to be signed into law. You can read more about the Budget Reconciliation process in AAPD’s Reconciliation Explainer here. 

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, plans to offer an amendment to the reconciliation bill during the “Vote-a-Rama” that would strike all provisions that cut Medicaid from the bill, and ensure that the ultra-wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share of taxes. AAPD has endorsed Sen. Wyden’s amendment.

The bill’s text could still change, especially during Vote-a-Rama. Several Senators have expressed continued reservations about the bill’s contents, and there are many hours of debate to come. AAPD will share updates as this process continues. 

Your Senators need to hear from you NOW that you oppose this budget and all cuts to Medicaid. Click here to tell them to support Sen. Wyden’s amendment and vote NO on cuts to Medicaid and SNAP!

The post Action Alert: Senate Budget Reconciliation Update appeared first on AAPD.

Note: This resource is not intended to be legal advice and should not be used as such. These are tips for organizers and attendees on making protest spaces more accessible so everyone can use their power. If you have feedback on these suggestions or additional resources you would like AAPD to consider sharing, please email revup@aapd.com.

Tips for Protest Organizers 

Preparation

• Provide as much information as possible about the march, protest, or action so that disabled attendees can make informed decisions about their participation and access needs. Be clear about the access features you do or do not have. If you are not able to provide all information publicly, provide a point of contact that people can reach to ask questions. 
  • Consider providing the following information and other relevant details:
    • Location and route information
    • Timeline of action 
    • Available accommodations (seating, mobility devices available, American Sign Language Interpreting, trained first aid volunteers available, etc.) 
    • Bathroom access
    • Spots along the route to rest and take a break
    • Transcripts of chants, rally cries, and any planned remarks  
• If possible, consider providing accommodations like American Sign Language interpretation, captioning transcripts of speeches, microphone amplification for speakers, mobility devices, chairs for people to sit in, golf carts and more.
• Encourage attendees to wear KN95 masks and take a COVID-19 test before attending. If possible, provide COVID-19 tests and KN95 masks for attendees  
• Train organizers who are helping guide the action on how to create safe aisles for people with disabilities to move, march at their own pace, and participate.
• Clearly label any food that is provided or distributed with ingredients and allergens.
• Provide ways for people to support your cause remotely, if they are not able to attend in person. 
• Make sure advertisements and materials:
  • Are written in plain language, with an 8th-grade or below reading level. You can check the reading level of your writing for free using Hemingwayapp.com
  • Have large enough text
  • Have strong color contrast
  • Are accessible to screen readers if shared in an online format

During the Action

• Leave seating for people with disabilities and older adults. Know that not all disabilities are visible.
• Keep paths to ramps and curb cuts clear.
• Ask someone if they need or would like assistance first. Do not touch people, their mobility devices, or service animals without their consent. Accept the answer if it is “No, I do not need help.”
• Talk directly to the person with a disability, not their aide, companion, or interpreter first. If the person designates someone else for you to speak with, then you can speak to that person. 
• In groups, state your name before speaking.
  • Some people who are blind or low-vision may also find visual descriptions helpful. You can ask if they would like that visual information.

Additional Resources for Protest Organizers 

• Action Network: Ability Access/Disability Inclusion Checklist for Marches and Rallies
• AAPD Checklist for Accessible In-Person Events
• Showing Up for Racial Justice: Nuts and Bolts of Disability Access
• HEARD: The Revolution Must Be Accessible
  • The Revolution Must Be Accessible: Spanish Resource
  • The Revolution Must Be Accessible: ASL Resource

Tips for Disabled Protestors 

Preparation

Depending on whether you are attending a high-risk or a low-risk protest, you want to be prepared. 

For both types of protests, make sure you have:

• Travel logistics planned
• Comfortable clothing and shoes
• Face mask (plus one extra)
• Water bottle
• Snacks
• Check to see if you know someone else going and plan to go with a friend

When attending a high-risk protest, you may want to wear glasses instead of  wearing contact lenses, bring a two-day supply of medication in the case of arrest, and bring goggles to protect against chemical irritants. You may also want to cover tattoos, wear plain or all black clothing, carry cash, and turn off your cellphone’s location services. It is also a good idea to let someone know where you are going and to memorize or write down an emergency contact’s phone number.

Etiquette and Safety

Safety can look different based on the identities that you hold. People with disabilities are generally at an increased risk of police violence.

• Black, Indigenous, and other people of color may have even greater increased risks when interacting with the police at protests.
• Undocumented people and people with previous interactions with the criminal legal system may face heightened risk in the event of an arrest.
• Disabled people may face specific obstacles that can impact safety. For example,  mobility disabilities can make it more difficult to get away quickly from unsafe interactions, and communication disabilities can impede access to rapid directions communicated verbally or visually. 

For everyone, going to a protest with a friend is one of the most important ways you can stay safe. It is key to discuss with your group any specific needs and your comfort level with certain risks. For example, discuss whether you are comfortable with being arrested or whether that risk is too great for your situation.  Discuss any access needs and any plans if the action becomes greater than your risk tolerance.

Another crucial part of maintaining safety during protests is not to talk to the police. If possible, you may want to maintain distance from the police. If you have interactions with the police while protesting, you have a right to refuse to talk with them and to request a lawyer. You should not tell the police anything about yourself or anyone else at the protest. The organizers may have specific people who are tasked with interacting with the police at an action.

Some protests ask that people not take photos or videos that show protestors’ faces. It is best etiquette to follow the direction of the organizers to make sure everyone is safe.

General Tips for Disabled Protestors

Protests can be more physically and emotionally taxing than you think. You can improve your experience at protests by:

• Using earplugs or headphones if you experience noise sensitivity
• Bringing a portable stool/chair or a walking stick that converts into a seat if you struggle to stand or walk for long periods
• Staying with your mobility device at all times 
• Being familiar with the route of the march
• Checking if the organizer has provided any access information
• Bringing extra medication, since the protest might last for longer than you anticipate
• Bringing chargers and batteries
• Ensuring you have enough food, water, and electrolytes
• Wearing a medical alert or ID badge
• Wearing sunscreen
• Planning space to debrief and take care of each other when the action is over

Access Needs and Direct Actions

You don’t have to tell anyone that you are disabled or about your condition or impairment, but it may be helpful to tell the organizer or the group you are going with about any access needs you have. This could include:

• Wheelchair access or access for other mobility equipment
• Access to public transit or parking
• Access to toilets or seating
• Sensory needs
• ASL or language interpretation
• Sighted Guide Support

If you have questions about the route or questions specific to your access needs, organizers are often open to discussing these with you directly, even if the route is not publicly shared. It is best to contact the organizers to discuss your participation and to improve access to a protest. 

While not all actions will be made accessible to everyone, there also may be alternative roles disabled people can play in direct actions to support what is happening on the ground.

Other Resources for Protesting While Disabled

• DREDF Webinar: Tips and Tools for Protestors with Disabilities
• DREDF: Know Your Rights as a Protestor with a Disability – Check this resource for answers to legal questions and learning about your rights if you’ve been arrested.
• DREDF: Protesting While Disabled Pocket Guide 
• Cripping the Resistance: No Revolution Without Us
• ACLU: Know Your Rights as a Protestor (English, Spanish)

The post Accessible Organizing: Tips for Protest Organizers and Disabled Protesters appeared first on AAPD.

This resource provides an overview of some of the most significant policies in the budget reconciliation bill, and how this bill would affect the disability community. 

AAPD has also created an explainer for the budget reconciliation process. We encourage you to read the reconciliation explainer here. 

Cuts to Medicaid and Changes to the Affordable Care Act 

The bill’s new requirements for Medicaid recipients and reductions in federal funding represent the largest cuts to the Medicaid program in its 60-year history. Medicaid currently covers more than 73 million people, including adults, children, people with disabilities, and low-income seniors. Many rely on Medicaid to cover costs that Medicare does not cover, such as premiums and copays. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, these cuts will result in at least 13.7 million Americans losing their health insurance between now and 2034.

In addition, these requirements pose the risk of causing hospitals in rural areas to close, as many rural hospitals serve communities that rely heavily on Medicaid. Disabled people are also more likely to live in rural areas and to rely on these hospitals to access routine care. Medicaid recipients and non-recipients alike will be negatively impacted by losing access to rural hospitals, and more Americans than ever will live in a “care desert.”

Some of the new policies and requirements include:

Medicaid Work Requirements: If this bill becomes law, many Medicaid recipients will be required to work in order to continue receiving Medicaid. This policy is called “Medicaid work requirements.” AAPD strongly opposes Medicaid work requirements for many reasons. Work requirements cause harm in order to address a problem that doesn’t really exist: 92% of all adults under 65 on Medicaid (who also do not receive Social Security benefits) are already working, and doing so without work requirements. 

Medicaid work requirements are difficult to implement and they cause people to lose their Medicaid benefits due to inability to submit required documentation, difficulty working enough hours to meet the requirements, and administrative errors. Arkansas and Georgia have implemented work requirements for Medicaid in recent years, which caused thousands of people in those states to lose their Medicaid coverage.

The text of the bill exempts individuals who are pregnant, have a disability, have a substance abuse or mental health disorder, and those who care for children or sick relatives. There are three major problems with this exemption: 

1. Historically, definitions of disability can leave out people who have disabilities that are not well understood, or have a disability that is impeding their ability to work, but has not yet been diagnosed. Policy can – and often does – reflect ableist assumptions and bias. 
2. In states that have implemented work requirements with similar exemptions, we have witnessed that many people who qualify for these exemptions still lose their Medicaid because of confusing and complicated paperwork processes.
3. Even without work requirements, Medicaid recipients already spend multiple dozens of hours meeting documentation requirements and navigating bureaucracy and red tape in order to keep the benefits they have now.

Work requirements also ignore how the support provided by Medicaid services, like Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS), are the only reason many people with disabilities are able to work at all. If their Medicaid services are cut even a little bit, many individuals to lose the very supports that are necessary for them to remain employed. If this bill passes, work requirements will begin by the end of 2026.

Proof of Citizenship or Immigration Status for Medicaid: The reconciliation bill also requires Medicaid recipients to provide proof of citizenship or immigration status to receive Medicaid. This requirement would go into effect immediately, creating a timely administrative requirement that many people would need time to fulfill. Many people do not have easy access to documents like birth certificates, Social Security cards, visas, or other documents to prove their citizenship or immigration status, and would need time to gather these documents. However, there is no waiting period for this requirement, which means the policy would not give them time to gather the proof they need.

This policy is based in anti-immigrant ideas. It is specifically designed to punish states like California, Minnesota, New York, Utah, and others that use state money to extend healthcare coverage to undocumented immigrants. These states have some of the largest populations of Medicaid recipients and disabled people in the country, which means this requirement could remove large numbers of people from Medicaid. For example, in California, Medicaid recipients who lost their homes – and important personal documents – in the January 2025 wildfires in LA could be thrown off their health insurance very suddenly by this policy.

Reduced Medicaid Funding for States that Cover Undocumented Immigrants: The bill includes a second policy driven by anti-immigrant sentiment – the federal government will cut 10% of federal Medicaid funds given to any state that uses state funds to provide health insurance to undocumented immigrant adults, children, or both. This will lead to devastating cuts in optional Medicaid services, such as Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), which millions of disabled Medicaid recipients rely on to maintain their independence.

More Frequent Eligibility Determinations: In order to continue to receive Medicaid, all Medicaid recipients are required to submit extensive financial and medical documents once a year in order to certify their eligibility to remain on Medicaid. This process is called “eligibility redetermination.” The House bill requires states to do Medicaid eligibility redeterminations every 6 months instead of once a year. This will add yet another time-consuming paperwork burden on Medicaid recipients.

Restricting the Open Enrollment Period for the Affordable Care Act: The bill would shorten the open enrollment period, which is the time each year when Americans can sign up for health insurance on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance marketplaces in their state.

The bill would also no longer allow low-income Americans to use the ACA marketplace to enroll in ACA-facilitated health coverage any time throughout the year. This means if a low-income person experiences a sudden drop in income (for example, if they are one of the 28 million Americans with no paid leave and need to take time off to care for a sick parent) or loses their job, they may be unable to immediately sign up for health coverage through Medicaid or the ACA marketplace, and have to go weeks or months without health insurance.

Restricting States’ Ability to Finance Medicaid: The bill also places a restriction on new or increased provider taxes. Many states use provider taxes to finance their Medicaid programs. These taxes are levied by states on hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities to help pay for their share of Medicaid programs. This will lead to significant gaps in state Medicaid budgets, which will reduce Medicaid recipients’ access to services.

New Cost-Sharing Requirements: To shift even more of the costs of Medicaid to the states, this bill will require states to charge patients a fee of up to $35 for each Medicaid-covered medical service provided. This will significantly burden low-income people on Medicaid, especially people with disabilities who often need multiple medical services a month. 

Most people on Medicaid do not have extra money to cover these fees. Many disabled people who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) also receive Medicaid. Social Security recipients are subject to strict rules about how much money they can earn and save; in 2025, any recipients under the age of of 66 cannot earn more than $23,400 per year.

Reductions in SNAP Benefits

The House reconciliation bill also includes major changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps many low-income individuals, people with disabilities, and their families buy food each month.

These reductions in SNAP funding will cause many to lose the benefits that help them buy groceries each month. For disabled people, high healthcare costs, lack of employment opportunities, and difficulty accessing food resources make them more likely to experience food insecurity. In fact, more than  37% of households that receive SNAP include a disabled adult, making SNAP a critical source of food for people with disabilities. 

Taken together, these extreme cuts to Medicaid and SNAP will leave millions of Americans without access to healthcare, Home- and Community-Based Services, and food at a time of increasing economic uncertainty and rising prices. Lack of access to Medicaid will saddle many struggling families with increased medical debt, forcing them to make the awful, gut-wrenching choice between getting their prescriptions or putting food on the table.

Here is a summary of the changes to SNAP:

• Reduced Federal Funding for SNAP: The House bill would cut $267 billion in federal funding for SNAP over the next ten years. These cuts will reduce or completely cut current or future benefits for all 40 million SNAP recipients – children, parents, older adults, disabled people, workers, and other low-income people. Roughly 1 in 8 people in the U.S., and 1 in every 5 children relies on SNAP to eat.

• Increases Financial Burden on States: For the first time, states would be required to fund at least 5% of benefit costs, and could be required to pay as much as 25% in states with a high incidence of benefit payment errors. In addition, states would have to cover 75% of the costs of administering SNAP, an increase from the current 50%. This could lead some states to make very difficult decisions to reduce SNAP benefits, or cut other vital programs like public education or veterans services.

• Imposes Work Requirements: Currently, SNAP recipients aged 18-54 are required to work, look for work, or be enrolled in an educational or vocational training program in order to receive benefits. If signed into law, the bill passed by the House would expand SNAP work requirements for individuals up to age 64. Older adults may have difficulty getting a job to satisfy these work requirements and lose their SNAP benefits as a result.

• Restricts Existing Exemptions to Work Requirements: In addition to the expanded work requirements for SNAP, the House bill would restrict current exemptions from work requirements for parents who cannot work because they are caring for their children. The bill would limit the exemption to adults caring for children under the age of 7. This will lead many to lose their benefits if they cannot find or afford adequate childcare so that they can go to work. Others may be unable to work because they care for a disabled child over the age of 7 with significant care needs; they, too, would be forced to return to work under these exemption restrictions.

Increased Contributions to ABLE Accounts

The reconciliation bill passed by the House does include some good provisions, including an extension of the increased contribution limits and other enhancements to ABLE Accounts, which allow individuals with disabilities to save tax-free for future disability-related expenses.

Here’s a closer look at some of the ABLE provisions:

• Extension of the Increased Contribution Limit: If signed into law, the bill passed by the House would extend the increased contribution limits for ABLE Accounts, allowing contributions up to the federal poverty level for one person or the beneficiary’s earned income for the year, whichever is less.

• Extension of the Savers Credit for ABLE Contributions: The bill would also make permanent the Savers Credit for beneficiaries who make qualifying contributions to their ABLE Accounts. The Savers Credit is a tax credit designed to help low and moderate-income individuals offset the cost of saving for the future. The credit can reduce the amount of tax you owe, but it is nonrefundable, meaning you don’t get it back.
• Extension of Provision Allowing Rollovers from Qualified Tuition Savings Accounts: Finally, if enacted, this bill would permanently extend the ability to roll funds from qualified tuition savings programs, such as 529 Plans, over to ABLE Accounts tax-free.

While these ABLE Account provisions are good for people with disabilities, the positive impact of these ABLE provisions would be greatly diminished by the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, which will significantly reduce the ability of people with disabilities to save money and drastically reduce disabled people’s economic security overall. 

That is why, even though it contains these positive advances in ABLE Accounts, AAPD opposes this bill. AAPD believes that this budget resolution poses a major threat to the health, economic opportunity, and lives of millions of disabled Americans.

What Comes Next?

Now that the House has passed the bill, it goes to the Senate, where Senators will debate and amend the bill. 

Some Senators have expressed grave concerns about the cruel Medicaid cuts proposed by the House and have indicated they intend to change or oppose these cuts. Senators are much more likely to change or oppose these cuts if they are hearing from their constituents that they do not want their elected official to support cuts to Medicaid. 

The Senate bill may contain significant differences and changes from the bill passed by the House. If the Senate passes a version of this bill, the House and Senate will have to meet and come to an agreement on any differences, and the House will have to vote again on final passage before the bill goes to the President to be signed into law. This means we still have at least 3 votes left before these cuts are finalized, and many opportunities to stop this bill. You can learn more about where we are in the reconciliation process and what is next by reading AAPD’s Budget Reconciliation Explainer. 

It has never been more important for you to use your power and speak out against these cuts. We need you, your family members, and your friends to contact your Senators and tell them NO CUTS TO MEDICAID OR SNAP! Use AAPD’s tool linked here to call and write your Senators in just a few clicks, then share it with 3 others and ask them to take action, too. 

The post Explainer: The House Passed a Budget Reconciliation Bill – What’s In the Bill and What Would It Mean For Disabled Americans? appeared first on AAPD.