Disability Priorities & Congress

Have you heard of the HCBS Relief and Stabilization Act? Probably not.

For this week’s community blog, I want to focus on a specific piece of legislation—or rather, a resolution—that offers a big-picture view of the disability movement and examines where we truly rank in America.

For those unfamiliar, HCBS stands for Home and Community-Based Services. To oversimplify it, HCBS is a waiver care system funded by Medicaid and Medicare dollars that allows people with disabilities to stay in their homes and local neighborhoods. Regardless of age or level of need, it is always cheaper, more beneficial, and more humane for a person to thrive and function directly within their local community.

This resolution seeks to uphold and expand Home and Community-Based Services while establishing more significant safeguards for our direct support professionals (DSPs). It directly responds to legal uncertainties following filings like Texas v. Kennedy, which left critical disability care frameworks at a stalemate.

Through this resolution, members of Congress are attempting to signal to disabled voters and our population as a whole just how much we mean to them.

While this bipartisan effort is a welcome sight—notably supported by primary sponsors like New Jersey’s own Congressman Tom Kean Jr.—we cannot allow ourselves to be misled.

It is no coincidence that a resolution like this gains momentum right around election time, or that key co-sponsors are currently running for re-election. So, to politicians on both sides of the political aisle asking for our votes: prove it.

Show us that we matter. Show us that disabled Americans are a priority. Show us that we are a vital, indispensable part of this nation.

Lately, there has been a massive push in legislative halls for data centers, infrastructure developments, and commercial housing initiatives. While infrastructure is important, people come first in America. America is funded and run by the people, and people with disabilities are people first.

To Congressman Kean and all leaders stepping up: thank you for your leadership on this resolution. But to the rest of Congress: it’s time to put your priorities in order and prove that disabled America is a permanent priority, not a seasonal campaign slogan.

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