Creation of the Statewide IDD Coordinating Council 
The Arc of Texas’ crowning achievement of the 88^th regular session is the passage of HB 729 by Representative Toni Rose of Dallas. The IDD Coordinating Council will implement, track, and continuously evolve a statewide IDD Strategic Plan in a similar model to the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council. The IDD Coordination Council will also help reduce waste and streamline. The Arc of Texas supports a whole system approach through a statewide IDD strategic plan specific to the current needs of Texans. 

Now more than ever we see the need to plan and prioritize people with disabilities who want to live and work in their communities. Planning and making people with disabilities the priority requires stakeholder input and trust. The Arc of Texas is a named member of the IDD Coordination Council and looks forward to getting to work later this year to inform the purposeful review of the entire system used by Texans with IDD with a focus on providing coordinated care to ensure high-quality, cost-effective services.

Base Wage Raise for Direct Care Workers
The Legislature raised the base wage for direct care workers to $10.60 per hour. This is the largest wage increase the Texas Legislature has ever passed!

A word from Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, Ashley Ford
The 88^th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature ended on Monday, May 29 and to be honest, y’all, I have mostly been in mourning since.

I have been mourning the death of so many great bills that could have helped countless Texans with disabilities and their families. Their most common cause of death? Time. We laid to rest great bills like:

• HB 4716, which would have required that school districts refer students with IDD to a local IDD authority to learn about publicly available services and benefits, including HCBS waivers, as soon as the student is diagnosed or suspected to have IDD (rather than waiting to bring it up until age 14 during transition planning).
• HB 5148, which would have established the Texas Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities.
• HB 5146, which would have expanded access to comprehensive transition programs on college campuses for students with intellectual disabilities.
• HB 4702, which would have created an IDD peer support program within Medicaid.
• HB 195, which would have helped ensure the safety of students with disabilities during a mandatory school drill or a disaster or emergency situation.
• HB 166, which would have created a process for school districts to appoint educational representatives for students who are over 18 and without a legal guardian, but unable to fully understand their rights and unable to provide informed consent throughout the special education process.
• SB 2143, which would have improved eligibility for and access to Medicaid waiver programs, including the Medically Dependent Children Program (MDCP) and Texas Home Living (TxHmL).

And I have also been mourning the budget. Even with a record budget surplus of over 32 BILLION dollars, lawmakers denied our pleas for significant interest list reduction and didn’t pass service intensity funding for special education.

Texas’ interest list for home and community-based services continues to grow faster than any other state in America. As of April 30, 2023, there are 158,375 people (unduplicated) waiting on an HCBS waiver in Texas. Ultimately, just 1,831 additional HCBS waiver slots were adopted in the budget for 2024-2025. When taken as a whole, these additional waiver slots will help an extremely small proportion of Texans waiting on a waiver. Here is the breakdown of additional slots for each waiver program:

Service intensity scale funding also failed to pass when it became entangled with school voucher legislation. And ultimately, The Arc had to oppose the only remaining life raft for service intensity scale funding because the measure included school vouchers and would have mandated that parents of children receiving special education services be provided with information regarding state supported living centers (SSLCs) during an ARD meeting.

And speaking of SSLCs, my mourning deepens when confronted with the disheartening reality of lawmakers’ pro-institutional actions. SB 944 passed to make it easier to commit people with IDD to SSLCs as long-term residents, no longer requiring the prerequisite recommendation from an interdisciplinary team or anyone else with expertise or experience in disability. There were also multiple efforts to promote SSLCs and other institutional settings among families. The base wage for SSLC workers is now $17.50 per hour (plus state employee benefits). And depending on experience, that can go up to $21 per hour as starting pay. Undoubtedly, this will further deplete the already diminishing pool of direct care workers available to support individuals residing in community settings. Texans with IDD deserve a continuum of living options, but one is left trying to make sense of a legislature that consistently funds and incentivizes institutional-based care and bankrupts and diminishes community-based care. Olmstead feels like old news under the pink dome.

After taking a beat to digest these feelings of despair, I recalled a timeless Joe Hill quote often shared by legendary disability rights activist and Texan Bob Kafka of ADAPT: “Don’t mourn, organize!” So, in the spirit of “don’t mourn, organize” I urge you all to activate your advocacy prowess.

Yes, we laid to rest so many great bills. But they are survived by millions of Texans impacted by disability everyday who have the power to ensure their momentum lives on. The 89^th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature will begin Tuesday, January 14, 2025. Members of The Arc of Texas, we have 582 days to organize.

Thank you for your advocacy!

Passed Bills We Supported

• HB 12: Relating to the duration of services provided under Medicaid to women following a pregnancy. (Rep. Rose)
• HB 279: Relating to the prosecution and punishment of the offense of trafficking of persons. (Rep. Jetton)
• HB 299: Relating to creating a voluntary accreditation for recovery housing. (Rep. Murr)
• HB 400: Relating to innovation grant programs to support residency training programs in psychiatric specialty fields and recruitment, training, and retention programs in behavioral health fields. (Rep. Klick)
• HB 446: Relating to the terminology used in statute to refer to intellectual disability and certain references to abolished health and human services agencies. (Rep. Craddick)
• HB 568: Relating to education and training for peace officers on interacting with persons with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. (Rep. Bowers)
• HB 728: Relating to the statewide interagency aging services coordinating council. (Rep. Rose)
• HB 729: Relating to the statewide intellectual and developmental disability coordinating council. (Rep. Rose)
• HB 1009: Relating to criminal history record information reviews of certain individuals providing services to individuals with an intellectual or developmental disability. (Rep. Turner)
• HB 1211: Relating to repayment of certain mental health professional education loans. (Rep. Guillen)
• HB 2920: Relating to the information maintained by the Texas Education Agency regarding postsecondary education and career opportunities. (Rep. Paul)
• HB 3186: Relating to youth diversion strategies and procedures for children accused of certain fine-only offenses in municipal and justice courts and related criminal justice matters. (Rep. Leach)
• HB 3462: Relating to the consolidation of ombudsman programs administered by the Health and Human Services Commission. (Rep. Noble)
• HB 4005: Relating to the establishment of the Texas Competency-Based Education Grant Program for certain students enrolled in competency-based baccalaureate degree programs. (Rep. Raney)
• HB 4363: Relating to the establishment of a scholarship program for aspiring classroom teachers. (Rep. Kuempel)
• SB 26: Relating to local mental health authority and local behavioral health authority audits and mental and behavioral health reporting, services, and programs. (Sen. Kolkhorst)
• SB 52: Relating to the right of state hospital patients to designate an essential caregiver for in-person visitation. (Sen. Zaffirini)
• SB 55: Relating to a study and report by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board regarding best practices for assisting students with autism spectrum disorder. (Sen. Zaffirini)
• SB 1242: Relating to training for employees and operators of certain child-care facilities. (Sen. LaMantia)
• SB 1606: Relating to evidence and orders regarding intellectual disability or mental condition in certain guardianship proceedings. (Sen. Zaffirini)
• SB 1624: Relating to guardianships, alternatives to guardianship, and supports and services for incapacitated persons. (Sen. Zaffirini)
• SB 1849: Relating to the establishment of an interagency child protection database. (Sen. Kolkhorst)

Passed Bills We Opposed

• HB 4169: Relating to providing prevocational services under certain Medicaid waiver programs. (Rep. Price)
• SB 944: Relating to the commitment order for individuals with intellectual disabilities who are committed to state supported living centers. (Sen. Kolkhorst)