GREETINGS!
The DeafBlind Coalition of Texas has been busy during the interim gearing up for the next legislative session—which began on Tuesday, Jan. 12th. It is our strong hope and belief that we will finally get a Co-Navigator bill passed. Please note that we are now using “Co-Navigator” (CN), instead of “Support Service Provider” (SSP), because we believe strongly that Co-Navigator is a more culturally sensitive term and more clearly describes the joint process involved in accessing the community as autonomous DeafBlind individuals. Read below for a summary of our major activities.
First of all, DeafBlind individuals Heather Pavey and myself, and allies Jacque Orr and Jeff Harper have created this new website. We hope it is more user-friendly, that is, easier to read and follow, most especially for individuals who use braille or have low vision. Please let us know what you think by submitting your comments on our “Contact Us” page. There is also a link to our twitter account at the bottom of each webpage. I will follow and report our progress as we navigate this current legislative session.
Every two years, all state agencies must submit their Legislative Appropriations Requests (LARs) to the Legislative Budget Board, before the beginning of the next legislative session. From 2019 to early 2020, therefore, members of our coalition personally met (at least twice) with the Texas Health & Human Services Commission’s (HHSC) Office of Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services administrators to advocate for that agency to include a CN program as an “exceptional item” (a wish list of sorts) on its next LAR. Such an item on an LAR greatly facilitates getting any type of funding bill, like our Co-Navigator bill, passed—primarily because there would then be no need for the extra hurdle of obtaining a fiscal note. Our coalition also personally testified, either in person or online, at the “listening sessions” that HHSC held across the state, about the vital need for HHSC to prioritize CN services. Last Oct. 27th HHSC submitted its LAR. Most unfortunately, a line item for a CN Program was not included.
On a very positive note though, we are now getting tremendous support from the Texas Association of the Deaf (TAD). From August 7-9, 2020 coalition members participated in Deaf Sympo—a biennial meeting sponsored by TAD, that convenes to prioritize TAD’s issues to address with the state legislature during the upcoming session. I spoke about the critical need for Co-Navigator services for DeafBlind Texans, then moderated the ensuing discussion. When TAD members voted on the 9th, enough votes were cast for our DeafBlind CN issue to obtain formal TAD support, meaning our efforts at the legislature this time around will be handled directly by TAD’s lobbyist. This was the most wonderful news—certainly no small thing!
Last fall ally Nancy Riley and I worked with the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities (GCPD) staff to revise its SSP/CN Legislative Report, with the intent of recalculating (greatly lowering) the estimated costs for a statewide program. Their revised report was approved and published in December. We believe that the revised cost estimate more accurately reflects the actual number of DeafBlind individuals who would be both eligible for and likely use Co-Navigator services. This is also a big deal! It means that we will be asking for a lot less funding from the state to establish statewide CN services in Texas.
A very small TAD Legislative subcommittee (DeafBlind individuals Sarah McMillen, Kris Cue’, Sheryl Hunt and myself, and Jacque Orr) are meeting regularly now to support the lobbyist’s efforts. We are supplying him cultural and background information, bill sponsor suggestions, and the like. We have also submitted to him a proposed bill and a proposed one-pager to hand out to legislators. At this point, the lobbyist has submitted our proposed bill to the Texas Legislative Council for review and official drafting. The next step then will be to find bill sponsors in both the House and Senate.
On Jan. 12th, the Texas Legislative session began! Educating legislators will be a huge challenge due to COVID restrictions. Very few personal visits will be allowed, understandably. As soon as our bill is filed, we will post it on our website. Under strict direction and guidance from our lobbyist, we hope to meet with legislators virtually, both one-on-one and during committee hearings on our bill. So please join us by standing ready to contact your representative and senator to advocate for our CN bill—we need a strong showing to convince legislators of our basic need for CN services. Go to our “Legislative Information” page for more information.
Hugs,
Hayley Broadway
Co-chair, TAD CN Legislative Subcommittee