Express Your Support for Expanding Access to Higher
Education
The House Higher Education Committee is hearing two important bills to The Arc of Texas on Monday. These bills are HB 5146 and HB 5148 by
Representative Raney of Bryan/College Station. You can submit public comments on these bills now! We have drafted sample public comments for both bills that you can use to get you started. As always, we encourage you to customize and add your personal connection to the issue the bill would address.
- The Arc’s One-Pager on HB 5146 is here.
- The Arc’s One-Pager on HB 5148 is here.
How to Submit Electronic Public Comments on HB 5146
- Go to https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c290
- Check the box to certify that you acknowledge and affirm the requirements listed
- Provide your contact information
- Click the “Select” box on the right next to HB 5146 Relating to the
establishment of the Building Better Futures Program to support educational and occupational skills training opportunities and support services for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities
- Within the text box, provide your comments. There is a 3000-character limit.
- Click the red “Submit” box
- Way to go! You submitted electronic public comments! Thank you for your advocacy action.
Sample Electronic Public Comments on HB 5146
You can copy and
paste the following comments into the text box to express your support. As always, we encourage you to customize and add your personal connection to the issue the bill would address.
I
support HB 5146 because students with intellectual disabilities need improved access to postsecondary education and occupational skills training in Texas. Texas needs more institutions of higher education that are approved by the U.S. Department of Education to offer a Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary (CTP) program. CTP programs offer meaningful credentials resulting in employment and improved economic self-sufficiency; they also offer students with disabilities a meaningful campus
experience alongside their non-disabled peers. The Building Better Futures Program established by HB 5146 will build better futures for the thousands of Texas students with intellectual disabilities who exit high school every year. Please support the passage of HB 5146.
How to Submit Electronic Public Comments on HB 5148
- Go to https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c290
- Check the box to certify that you acknowledge and affirm the requirements listed
- Provide your contact information
- Click the “Select” box on the right next to HB 5148 Relating to the
establishment of the Texas Students with Disabilities Scholarship Program for certain students at public institutions of higher education
- Within the text box, provide your comments. There is a 3000-character limit.
- Click the red “Submit” box
- Way to go! You
submitted electronic public comments! Thank you for your advocacy action.
Sample Electronic Public Comments on HB 5148
You can copy and paste the following comments into the text box to express your support. As
always, we encourage you to customize and add your personal connection to the issue the bill would address.
As students and their families look at college options, the question of how to pay
for it is top of mind for most. I support HB 5148 because inadequate financial aid and funding options for students with disabilities prevent many students from even attempting to enroll after exiting high school. The Texas Students with Disabilities Scholarship Program is unique in that it has certain provisions to increase accessibility that many traditional scholarship programs do not offer. These provisions will expand the reach of the program and be inclusive of students with disabilities
following non-traditional postsecondary education pathways. Moreover, it is sometimes difficult for individuals – especially individuals with intellectual disabilities – to get through the vocational rehabilitation (VR) process. This scholarship program will be easier for individuals to navigate and help some prospective students who are currently falling through the VR cracks. Please support the passage of HB 5148.
Express Your Support for School Referrals to LIDDAs
The House Public Education Committee is hearing one very important bill to The Arc of Texas on Tuesday:
HB 4716 by Manuel of Beaumont. You can submit public comments on this bill now! We have drafted a sample public comment for
this bill that you can use to get you started. As always, we encourage you to customize and add your personal connection to the issue the bill would address.
- The Arc’s One-Pager on HB 4716 is here.
How to Submit Electronic Public Comments on HB 4716
- Go to https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c400
- Check the box to certify that you
acknowledge and affirm the requirements listed
- Provide your contact information
- Click the “Select” box on the right next to HB 4716 Relating to the referral of certain students receiving special education services to a local intellectual and developmental disability authority for services or public benefits.
- Within the text box, provide your comments. There is a 3000-character limit.
- Click the red “Submit” box
- Way to go! You submitted electronic public comments! Thank you for your advocacy action.
Sample Electronic Public Comments on HB 4716
You can copy and paste the following comments into the text box to express your support. As always, we encourage you to customize and add your personal connection to the issue the bill would address.
I support HB 4716 because families need to know about publicly available services or benefits as soon as possible for their child with intellectual or developmental disabilities – especially when you consider some services have waiting lists up
to 16 years. Local IDD Authorities are the best place to refer students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) as they will provide families with the opportunity to educate themselves about ALL services for Texans with IDD. Schools are often one of the first places children with IDD are identified so by requiring that school districts refer students with a suspected or diagnosed intellectual or developmental disability to their local IDD authority, we can help ensure Texans with
IDD get what they need when they need it. Please support the passage of HB 4716.
Express Your Support for IDD Peer Supports
The House Human Services Committee is hearing another very important bill to The Arc of Texas on Tuesday: HB 4702 by Campos of San Antonio. You can submit public comments on this bill now! We have drafted a sample public comment for this bill that you can use to get you started. As always, we encourage you to customize and add your personal connection to the issue the bill would address.
- The Arc’s One-Pager on HB 4702 is here.
How to Submit Electronic Public Comments on HB 4702
- Go to https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c310
- Check the box to certify that you acknowledge and affirm the requirements listed
- Provide your contact information
- Click the “Select” box on the right next to HB 4702 Relating to peer
support specialists for individuals with an intellectual or developmental disability and peer services for those individuals under Medicaid living outside of state supported living centers.
- Within the text box, provide your comments. There is a 3000-character limit.
- Click the red “Submit” box
- Way to go! You submitted electronic public comments! Thank you for your advocacy action.
Sample Electronic Public Comments on HB 4702
You can copy and
paste the following comments into the text box to express your support. As always, we encourage you to customize and add your personal connection to the issue the bill would address.
I
support HB 4702 because people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) living in the community need peer supports. Peer support services focused on mental health and substance abuse disorders are already a proven successful Medicaid-billable service. The bill would build on this model for peer services specific to and for the IDD population. In an era of workforce shortages, peer support specialists can serve as inexpensive, credentialed service providers. Whatever the reason,
people with disabilities frequently become cut off and isolated from others. Outside of family members, people with IDD may have no freely given and chosen relationships. The service delivery system often restricts opportunities for people with IDD to get together, through program or funder rules, curfews, transportation restrictions, and other limitations. The benefit of peer support is that supporters will have the experience of independent living. They will be able to share with their peer
the hurdles and victories, the benefits and responsibilities of community living. The peer will be able to provide encouragement, guidance, listening, teaching, suggestions, and bridges to community. The Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities (TCDD) has funded multiple IDD peer supports grant projects in recent years to pilot this idea. Their projects have consistently demonstrated that peers are best positioned to assist their peers to see what is possible and identify opportunities and
barriers they will need to cross to achieve their goals for a full life. Similar legislation in previous sessions had a zero fiscal note. Please support the passage of HB 4702.
