Posted on April 12, 2012 by Rachele King, Paraquad Intern
On Wednesday, April 4th, over 100 participants and advocates traveled from Paraquad in St. Louis to Jefferson City for the 11th Annual Disability Rights Legislative Day, to voice our concerns about our civil rights. When we arrived there were over 500 individuals from the disability community chanting with pride, “Take Note, We Vote!”
Read MorePosted on April 11, 2012 by Kimberly Lackey
Attorney General Chris Koster has made education and enforcement of disabled parking laws a high priority as part of his Accessibility Initiative (link to facebook page) In early February, he organized a targeted enforcement effort in the Kansas City area to bring public awareness to this important issue. During that operation police issued 108 citations, 80 tickets and 28 warnings.
Read MorePosted on April 02, 2012 by Amanda Beals
This week, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Patricia S. Joyce ruled that the ballot language of Missouri’s proposed voter ID constitutional amendment was deceptive and misleading. Therefore, it would not give voters an accurate representation of what they were voting for. As a result, this ballot initiative was invalidated and taken off the November ballot.
Read MorePosted on March 29, 2012 by Kimberly Lackey
On March 26, 2012, the Supreme Court began listening to oral arguments regarding the Affordable Care Act in what is one of the most anticipated cases ever decided by the Court.
On Monday the Court began by hearing one hour of oral argument regarding whether or not the Anti-Injunction Act bars the Court from determining the constitutionality of the individual mandate at this point. If the Court decides that the penalty for not purchasing individual health coverage is a tax as defined by the Anti-Injunction Act then the earliest the Court would have jurisdiction to rule on this matter would be April 2015, when the penalty for not purchasing individual health coverage is first due. The overall consensus is that both sides want this issue decided now and the Court seems to agree.
Read MorePosted on March 23, 2012 by Megan Burke
Today we celebrate the two year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. Many people are skeptical as to what the Affordable Care Act really means for them. Two years in, and I can tell you how people with disabilities are already benefiting.
Read MorePosted on March 20, 2012 by Willie Kimbrough
As of March 15, 2012, the 2010 ADA Standards for new construction, alterations, program accessibility, and barrier removal went into compliance. There is also a new checklist out as well called the ADA Checklist for Readily Achievable Barrier Removal.
Read MorePosted on March 15, 2012 by Thomas Green
Education, is it a right or a privilege? It is not a question of the national discourse – children are required to get an education and local schools are held accountable for the educational outcomes. No Child Left Behind Act has forced states and local educational agencies to be responsible for setting up outcomes, expectations and evaluation/assessment to determine if the child is meeting or passing the specific benchmarks. The years have gone by and the assessments are revealing achievement gaps of specific populations of students.
Read MorePosted on March 14, 2012 by Amanda Beals
Voter’s in Missouri might be a little confused this week as they see campaign ads and notice a sudden increase in candidate attention to our state. You might be asking yourself, didn’t we already have our Presidential Primary Election in February? Well, kind of…
Read MorePosted on March 13, 2012 by Guest Blogger: Ann Conrath, Public Policy Intern
Two words come to mind when thinking about disability advocacy efforts: visibility and power. As the largest minority group in the country, we have the potential to be an immense source of influence for change when we advocate in solidarity and make our voices heard. Attending Disability Rights Legislation Day (DRLD) on April 4th is the perfect opportunity.
Read MorePosted on March 10, 2012 by Megan Burke
Employment should be based on our skills, knowledge and experience. We expect protection against discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, race, religion, etc. In the past, Missouri has made its own decisions as a state to build on federal laws such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Once again, actions by the Missouri legislature threaten to undo the progress we made as a state and weaken the protections meant to give all Missourians a chance to do their jobs without fear of discrimination.
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