pls ask Approps to fund LD 1666 (SSI & marriage equality) & LD 2166 (post-secondary ed for ppl w disab)

[Maine Disability Alerts]

Dear Friends of Mainers with Disabilities,

Please see call to action below from Speaking Up For Us (Maine's organization by and of people with disabilities).

They are asking you to contact Appropriations Committee members to ask them to support LD 1666 (SSI reform: achieve real marriage equality for people with disabilities and update state supplement to SSI payments for the first time in 50 years) and LD 2166 (creating inclusive post-secondary education pilots for Mainers with intellectual or developmental disabilities or autism).

I am asking you for the same. These are both high-priority bills. Please email every member of the Approps committee today.

• LD 1666 deals with Maine's state supplement to people with disabilities receiving SSI. Current payments are a paltry $10/month for a single person, $15/month for a married couple. The bill would:
  • eliminate the marriage penalty, so that the payment to a married couple would be the same as the payment to two single people. Current Mainers with disabilities are avoiding marriage because of this penalty, and those whose religious convictions have prompted them to marry have seen their benefits reduced. This is an injustice that LD 1666 would rectify (at minimal cost to the state general fund--like less than $10k/year!)
  • update state supplement to SSI payments, which haven't changed since the mid-1970s (bill on the table would change $10/month to $65/month, though the Appropriations Committee could choose a middle ground of not going all the way to $65)
• LD 2166 would create a grant program for Maine institutions of higher education to create inclusive post-secondary education programs for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities or autism. This would position Maine to better compete for federal grants that promote job-focused inclusive higher education. This could include non-degree programs that also lead to better job outcomes and give participants access to federal financial aid for such programs. It's a nationwide movement that Maine has, to date, not participated in

LD 1666 and LD 2166 were both unanimously supported in their committees. But each needs funding not to die on the Appropriations Committee table

contact info for Appropriations members:

margaret...@legislature.maine.gov

richard...@legislature.maine.gov
jill....@legislature.maine.gov
melani...@legislature.maine.gov
dan.a...@legislature.maine.gov
mark....@legislature.maine.gov
nathan...@legislaturel.maine.gov
benjamin...@legislaturel.maine.gov
john.d...@legislaturel.maine.gov
jessi...@legislaturel.maine.gov
andrew....@legislaturel.maine.gov
ann.m...@legislature.maine.gov
sawin....@legislaturel.maine.gov