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Independent Living Advocates Descend on Olympia
by Gillian Maguire
March 26, 2003
On March 5th, 2003, advocates from all over Washington converged in Olympia to tell their legislators the value of independent living.
A crowd of 139 people met at United Churches for the 8th Annual Independent Living and Personal Assistance Service Advocacy Day.
Advocacy Day is organized by the Arc of Washington and happens every Wednesday during the legislative session. One Wednesday each year, the Arc of Washington joins hands with Independent Living Centers and Project PAS-Port for Change to put the spotlight on the importance of independence for people with disabilities. At Advocacy Day people with disabilities, family members and advocates for people with disabilities learn about the legislative process and specific bills that are in the legislature. In the afternoon, advocates meet with their legislators, and see debates and votes in action in Olympia.
This year lots of individuals attended plus the following organizations were at Independent Living Advocacy Day:
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Project PAS-Port for Change |
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TASLE (Take a Second Look, Educating Ourselves and Others) |
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SAIL (Self Advocates in Leadership) |
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People First of Port Townsend |
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People First of Whatcom County |
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Staff and residents of Lakeland Village Residential Habilitation Center |
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CORD (Coalition of Responsible Disabled) from Spokane |
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Self-Advocates of Washington |
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Hosts Sherry Lookabill, Robert Wardell and Grier Jewell introduced speakers and fielded questions.
Jeff Grace introduced Project PAS-Port for Change and showed off the “We Choose Independence” booklets designed to educate legislators about the need for changes in Personal Assistance Services (PAS).
Next up was Kate Sheffield who spoke about two specific bills that directly affect Personal Assistance Services. She spoke about House Bill 1777, which would give a wage increase and benefits to Personal Assistants (Home Care providers).
Next Kate talked about a topic that has long been supported by Project PAS-Port for Change – Nurse Delegation. Nurse delegation is a process where nurses can train others to do procedures that normally only trained nursing staff are allowed to do. A law was passed several years ago that permitted this in certain situations; but nurse delegation was not allowed in people’s own homes. House Bill 1753 and its companion Senate Bill 5709, will allow nurse delegation to happen in people’s own homes.
Linda Schappals-McClain from CORD in Spokane talked about the impact the loss of a program called General Assistance – Unemployable (GAU) would have on the lives of people who are poor or have disabilities. GAU is one of many programs that is on the chopping block this year.
TASLE finished off the morning with a rousing training on how to get your point across to a legislator.
To look up bills you can visit the legislature’s website: http://www.leg.wa.gov/wsladm/bills.cfm
To call your own legislators to tell them your opinion of a bill or budget item, you can call the legislative hotline: 1-800-562-6000
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