The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and the American Association of People with Disabilites (AAPD) have both issued strong support of the Build Back Better bill passed by the House of Representatives.

• NCIL Statement on BBB in a word document. Don’t miss the fact sheets at the end of the document!
• AAPD Statement on BBB

From NCIL:

Today the House passed the Build Back Better Act (BBB), President Biden’s transformational legislation with a historic $1.7 trillion investment in critical programs and services. While the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, BBB and the recently-passed infrastructure package will set our country on a path toward a more equitable recovery.  

The Build Back Better Act includes major investments in housing, education, children and families, clean energy and sustainability, immigration reform, and health coverage. It would fund grants to transition to competitive integrated employment, close the Medicaid coverage gap, expand Medicare to cover hearing benefits, reduce healthcare premiums for millions of people, and extend important tax credits. The bill also includes paid leave and drug pricing provisions that had previously been removed from the package.

Importantly, the package still includes $150 billion in funding to strengthen Medicaid home and community based services (HCBS). While $150 billion is less than the original amount proposed by President Biden, it is still the largest investment in HCBS we have ever seen and would provide urgently-needed funding to support the workforce and help disabled people live and stay in our communities. The package would also make the Money Follows the Person program and HCBS Spousal Impoverishment protections permanent, further enabling disabled people to get out of institutions and live in the community. 

BBB now moves to the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Schumer has set a Christmas deadline. This is not a done deal yet!

Contact your Senators and urge them to get BBB to the finish line: Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 (voice) or (202) 224-3091 (TTY) and ask to be connected to your Senators. You can find your Senators’ direct phone numbers and websites at senate.gov. You can also see a list of Senators’ Twitter handles or use Resistbot to turn texts into faxes, mail, or hand-delivered letters by texting “RESIST” to 50409.