Last night was a special evening, a time for celebrating community and recognizing the essential work of the Quality Trust in supporting DC residents with disabilities at their annual Better Together reception. It was wonderful to spend time with Shawn Ullman, Quality Trust's CEO, and so many others involved in protecting and advancing disability rights every day - and it also was great to see Shawn's predecessor, Tina Campanella, who never misses an opportunity to visit us back here in DC when she can!
On a more sobering note, the DDS performance review last week, while examining DDS policies and actions over the past year, couldn't help but also touch on the nerve-wracking proposals, now making their way through the Congress, that could directly affect DC's overall finances as well as reduce federal Medicaid funding across the country. Judging from today's news, risks to DC's budget may not even wait for next year, since the continuing resolution now under consideration would force DC to cut over $1 billion in spending between now and the end of September.
These risks to DC are the reason why I am so dismayed that different organizations concerned about our lack of national representation don't seem to be pulling together to fight the affronts to home rule that are right on our doorstep. Each day I receive an email from a different organization, each wanting my support on behalf of DC's political rights. But frankly it's dizzying - it's time, right now, for a united front among these various groups so I hope they will figure things out quickly, because our opponents are not waiting. Here's a tip though: The 51st continues to be a reliable source of information about our besieged future state (it WILL happen!), and it, at least, deserves your support if you're able to subscribe. Maybe they can do some research to help explain why we' have such a fragmented bunch of DC advocacy organizations...
