Other Issues

November 7, 2006

The Honorable Lida Harkins
House Majority Leader
State House, Room 343
Boston, MA 02133

Dear Representative Harkins:

United Disability Housing Partnership is a coalition of 57 disability groups dedicated to expanding housing opportunities for persons with all types of disabilities. United Housing’s member organizations represent more than 250,000 individuals across Massachusetts.

We are writing to you today to revisit an issue that we discussed with your staff in early 2005: the place for disabilities issues within the committee structure.

In separate meetings with Daniel Toscano and David Friedman, representatives of United Housing’s member organizations expressed their concerns with the unintentional slight toward the disability community by not creating a dedicated or explicit committee for these issues.

As you approach the process of reorganizing in preparation for the 2007-2008 legislative session, we respectfully make the following requests:

  1. That the word(s) "Disability," "Disability Services," or "People with Disabilities" be added to the Committee on Children and Families title. This change would require minimal logistical inconvenience and would be a tremendous symbolic gesture to individuals living with disabilities and their families that their concerns are important to the Massachusetts Legislature.
  2. That funds be allocated for a dedicated Committee staffer to provide critical analysis of disability-related legislation. As you know, within the previous Human Services and Elder Affairs Committee, there was a minimum of one staff analyst assigned exclusively to disability issues at all times. The needs of persons living with disabilities are sufficiently important and varied so as to require at least one person on Committee staff who is well versed in the complexities of disability issues.

While we appreciate the positive feedback we received two years ago when discussing this same matter, we welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter in more detail with you at your convenience. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Matt Noyes at 617-927-0088 x26 or at mnoyesahc.org.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned Members of United Disability Housing Partnership

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