Senator Carlucci & Senate Majority Expand Protections For New Yorkers with Disabilities

 (Albany, NY) - Senator David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Westchester) along with the Senate Majority passed legislation to help protect New Yorkers with disabilities. The bills include legislation that will create an advocacy office for New Yorkers living with disabilities and expand Medicaid coverage for applied behavior analysis services for people who have autism spectrum disorder.

Bill Sponsor, Senator David Carlucci said, “The Office for People with Developmental Disabilities is tasked with supporting thousands of people. I sponsor legislation to ensure that their website clearly explains their services and how people qualify for them. Whether it is information on employment or housing, we want to make sure it is a click away. By increasing accessibility for our most vulnerable populations, we can improve their quality of life.”

The package of legislation being advanced by Carlucci and the Senate Majority includes:

• Accessibility to Public Services with OPWDD:  This bill, S.5347, sponsored by Senator David Carlucci, will make information on services offered by the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) and the processes required to receive those services available on the office website. 
•  Housing Provisions For Therapy Animals:  This bill, S.2705, introduced by Senator Tim Kennedy, codifies outlying portions of the federal Fair Housing Act into New York State law to afford more complete, explicit protections on not only persons with disabilities, but particularly veterans suffering from PTSD.
•  Accessible Electronic Information Act:  This bill, S.3599, introduced by Senator Kevin Parker, enacts the accessible electronic information act for blind and disabled persons by creating a new fund in the state finance law and authorizes a not-for-profit entity to administer the program.
•  Safeguarding Cash Accounts:  This bill, S.1672A, sponsored by Senator John Brooks, establishes a uniform set of procedures and guidelines for the management of cash accounts for residents who live in individualized residential alternatives. Under this legislation, OPWDD will be required to implement the recommendations made in the Inspector General Report in order to better safeguard OPWDD residents' personal allowance accounts.
•  Study on Potential Debit Card Usage in Residential Facilities:  This bill, S.5538, sponsored by Senator John Brooks, will direct the commissioner of the Office for People with Development Disabilities (OPWDD) to conduct a study on the viability of providing debit cards to individuals in licensed residential facilities.
•  Closed Captioning on Public Televisions:  This bill, S.1650, sponsored by Senator James Skoufis, will require, upon request, places of public accommodations to enable closed captioning on televisions in public areas.
•  Advocacy Office for People with Disabilities:  This bill, S.1674, introduced by Senator James Skoufis, creates an office that will function as an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities to help receive services and support that enable them to make informed choices and decisions.
•  Ability to Terminate Lease:  This bill, S.3891, introduced by Senator Luis Sepulveda, amends the real property law to allow those with disabilities to terminate their lease to move into housing that better suits their needs.
•  Expands Medicaid Coverage to Behavioral Analysis:  This bill, S.1821, introduced by Senator Gustavo Rivera, creates health care coverage for New Yorkers who rely on Medicaid to receive coverage for behavior analysis for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder.