URGENT IL ACTION ALERT: Feb. 8, 2022

 

February 8, 2022 | by Amber Smock

HSP Spouse Exceptions, Legislative Accessibility Act, Hearing Aid Insurance

Thank you to all the great folks who took action with us last week. We have an important update. Due to the release of the state budget last week, the hearing for the HSP spouse bill got pushed to TODAY at 3:30 pm. We need you to help file electronic witness slips! See more below.

And, in case you missed it, you can find our statement on the Illinois proposed state budget at this link.

Spouses in the Home Services Program (HSP): 

SB 3132 is a bill proposed by DRS to allow spouses to become personal attendants under the Home Services Program, pending federal approval. The bill is being heard in the Senate Health Committee at 3:30 pm TODAY, Tuesday February 8, and support is needed via filing witness slips. Any individual or organization can file a witness slip. The link to file a witness slip is here. If you are submitting as an individual, you can say that you are representing “Self.” To show your support, check that you are a “proponent.” You should also check “record of appearance only” if you are not planning to send in testimony.

Covering Hearing Aids Under Insurance: 

HB 5514 is a bill by State Representative Natalie Manley to cover hearing aids under insurance for all ages. Hearing aids are a critical tool for maintaining many aspects of health, including mental and brain health; plus, they are critical for people who work and need communication access to stay employed. This bill needs cosponsors so please email your legislators to sign on in support at this link. Thanks to all who have done this already; please ask your friends and colleagues to send emails too!

Support the Legislative Accessibility Act: 

Many thanks to the several organizations who signed on to our letter to legislators on the Legislative Accessibility Act (SB 180/HB 855). We’re getting the letter out this week and it will be posted on our website. We need individual advocates to please send letters to your legislators at this link. In the meantime, we can still take names of organizations that support this bill at this link. We will be updating our online page with organization names regularly. Please help us get this important bill passed!

Please share these opportunities for action widely! These three bills are great ways for our legislators to meet the needs of Illinois constituents with disabilities.