Thanks in large part to the successful lobbying efforts of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and the various coordinated advocacy campaigns launched by disability community advocacy organizations throughout the nation, CFILC, and the Systems Change Network, the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed by Congress and will be signed into law by President Barack Obama. The economic stimulus bill is a critical component of the President’s plans to interlock rescue efforts to halt the down sliding of leading economic indicators that have worsened the national, state, and world economies.

We are particularly pleased to report that the $787 billion economic stimulus plan includes an additional $180 million for Independent Living Centers operating throughout the nation and $11.7 million for Special Education. The House-passed version of the bill would have authorized $200 million for Independent Living Centers, but the Senate version would have lowered that funding to $110 million. Given the discrepancy between the two proposals, the compromised funding level of $180 million was a very welcome outcome since there were concerns that the conference committee would have moved closer to the level of funding in the Senate bill.

Although many leading economists believe that the $787 billion figure is insufficient to address the magnitude of the economic crisis, the President is taking a three-pronged approach to stimulating the economy. In the short term, he will be proposing spending at least $50 billion of the Wall Street rescue money to begin halting mortgage foreclosures nationwide. The Treasury Department is also expected to provide more details on a $100 billion plus proposal for the Federal government and private investors to team up to rid bank balance sheets of their “toxic assets” that spurned the dual downturns in the housing and financial markets.

Other components of the economic stimulus plan will provide direct aid to states, continue unemployment and health care coverage benefits for workers, and help avoid additional cuts in programs and services that many states are contemplating to address their own state/local budget crises that are estimated to include a combined $200 billion in state budget shortfalls. The President hopes that the proposals will create or preserve up to 3.5 million jobs over the next two years and avoid the historic loss of tax revenues in times of recession typically faced throughout the nation. The Obama Administration estimates that the plan will affect 396,000 jobs in California.

The economic stimulus plan will hopefully assist California in addressing its massive $42 billion budget deficit that encompasses the projected deficit for the period ending July 2010. The proposed compromise state budget agreement that is still under consideration in the California State Legislature at the time of the posting of this notice assumes that California will receive its fair share of Federal funding for Medicaid, SSI/SSP grants, and other programs. Disability community advocacy organizations are justifiably concerned that these vital programs will be targeted for additional cuts if the state economy continues to declines, particularly if the “May Revise” indicates that more public assistance caseloads will grow as a result of continued job losses and the loss of tax revenues.

The Governors of many states had hoped for a much higher level of direct aid to states because the injection of more Federal funding would have given states greater flexibility in addressing their budget deficits and avoid further program cuts and layoffs in state employment. The conference committee debated over whether it would retain the $79 billion in direct state aid originally proposed in the House bill. Senate Republicans lowered that figure to just $54 billion, citing as justification for the reduction the fact that states were being allocated $87 billion in Medicaid assistance and billions more for education. The Republican centrists insisted upon that lower figure in exchange for their votes on the final agreement. They viewed the built-in “flexibility” as allocating Federal funding without adequate standards for accountability.

Nevertheless, the inclusion of significant funding for Independent Living Centers and Special Education is a reflection of the extent to which the disability community was able to effectively mobilize to retain funding for these programs. CFILC’s Executives Directors, SCNetwork Advocates, and our consumers responded very well to our Action Alerts. Hopefully, this successful outcome can be built upon in future advocacy campaigns.