This bill ensures more accessible housing units and workplaces are available in the state by bringing such buildings under the purview of the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board (AAB) when newly built or when major renovations take place.

This bill establishes the legal framework for Supported Decision-Making in Massachusetts, an alternative to guardianship in which adults can choose a group of trusted supporters to assist them with making and communicating decisions.

This bill builds more accessible and affordable homes by improving the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) and allowing project-basing of AHVP vouchers.

These bills address high and rising prescription drug costs and reduce co-pays for people with certain chronic conditions.

This bill will allow spouses to be authorized to serve as paid caregivers in the MassHealth program for the provision of certain home-based care and services just as other relatives are already permitted to serve as paid caregivers.

People with disabilities are frequently the victims of explicit and implicit bias in the healthcare system, often with harmful and even deadly consequences. Some disabled patients have been denied treatments, medications, and even removed from life support, while others report being pressured to sign Do Not Resuscitate orders–all based on the presumption that the lives of people with disabilities have less worth and are less worth saving than the lives of people without disabilities. During the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, our own state government took the same approach, adopting Crisis Standards of Care that would have sent thousands of people with disabilities to the back of the line for lifesaving ventilators and ICU beds.

Estate recovery is the practice of MassHealth recouping the cost of medical services from the deceased enrollee's family. While mandated by federal law, estate recovery is made even more aggressive by requirements under Massachusetts law. It can result in the sale of the family home, causing excessive financial burden and perpetuating poverty, especially among communities of color and people with disabilities.

Our Housing Bond Bill advocacy is far from over. Governor Healey's version of the Affordable Homes Act has a lot of promising proposals for affordable and accessible housing, but we (along with our allies at CHAPA, the Boston Center for Independent Living, and Stavros) will be advocating for a few key changes.

As reported in the State House News, one of our priority bills, the Wheelchair Warranty Bill (now labeled S.2541), will be voted on by the Senate tomorrow, and we expect it to pass!

Parents with disabilities, especially psychiatric or intellectual disabilities, lose custody or parenting time at alarming rates due to disability discrimination – while 6.7% of parents in the U.S. have a disability, families in which a parent has a disability are disproportionately involved in the child welfare system. Across the board, disabled parents are 22% more likely to have their parental rights terminated, and parents with psychiatric disabilities are 26 times more likely to have their children removed from their homes. Parents should not be denied the right to raise their children solely on the basis of their disability.