URGENT ACTION ALERT! Support Disability Disaster Planning in Illinois
Access Living friends and allies:
Today, we’d like to amplify an urgent action alert from an Illinois group called PPE for People with Disabilities Coalition (PPE means personal protective equipment). They have been working hard to pass a bill to help improve Illinois emergency and disaster responsiveness from a disability statewide view. They need state legislative witness slips filed by 3 pm Central time TODAY! Please help us out. See below for the alert.
From PPE for People with Disabilities Coalition:
ACTION ALERT!
PPE For People With Disabilities Coalition needs your help again to show your support for SB 921! We are happy to share that the bill was passed in the Senate and now needs to be voted on in the House of Representatives.
SB 921 creates an “Access and Functional Needs Advisory Committee” within the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA). The committee would be made up of people with disabilities who reflect diversity in age, gender, racial and ethnic backgrounds.
The purpose of this committee will be to address the challenges that people with disabilities have faced and continue to face during disasters and emergencies, including reviewing and making changes to Illinois’ emergency management plans. The advisory committee will provide recommendations to meet the support needs of people with disabilities and seniors before, during, and after disasters using an intersectional equity approach.
TAKE ACTION: Each slip in support and as a “proponent” of SB 921 matters! Please file an electronic witness slip at this link to show your support for the bill! The slip must be submitted by the committee hearing this Wednesday, May 19 at 3:00 pm.
How To File A Witness Slip:
Fill out your name and other contact information
For “Firm/Business or Agency” and “Representation” sections, if you are not submitting on behalf of an organization you can type “self”
Under the “Position” section, select “Proponent” (this means you support SB 921!)
Check “Record of Appearance Only”, and
Click “Submit”
Also, below are some helpful resources from the Illinois Self-Advocacy Alliance, in partnership with the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities, that explain the purpose of witness slips and how to complete them.
Speaking Up and Speaking Out by Filing a Witness Slip recorded presentation
Speaking Up and Speaking Out by Filing a Witness Slip PowerPoint
Advocacy Through Witness Slips with Pictures resource
Advocacy Through Witness Slips Written resource
Please circulate this action alert TODAY with fellow advocates. Let’s go Illinois!