Public Policy Committee Minutes
May 3, 2007

GUESTS
Cathy Allen
Thomas Ballard
chuck Beatty
Bob Butler
Meg Kane
Nestor Melnyk
Terri Moore
Tom Eamoe
Eric Rathburn
Carol Shkolnik
Ann Snyder
Dee Tobias
Tim Tobin
Gary Tonks
Cheyenne Wilson
Marty Zinn

STAFF
Paul Jarvis

Mary Smithson
Tammy Waller
David Zwyer

Call to Order:
Chair Adams called the meeting to order at 4:33 p.m. Ruben Garcia moved the minutes be accepted without changes. Susan McCrary seconded the motion. No further discussion was offered. The minutes were approved by a voice vote.

Group Reports:
Shelley Papenfuse gave a report on the status of the Ohio Olmstead Task Force (OOTF). The OOTF received a report from the Ohio Legal Rights Service regarding changes made in the state budget. The changes would eliminate some of OLRS investigatory powers. OOTF voted to oppose the change. OOTF also voted to oppose Senate Bill 88, a bill that would allow local governmental bodies to opt-out of a regional transit authority agreement if they are already a part of the agreement. The bill is being driven by a few communities in the greater Toledo area and would have a negative impact on people who rely on public transportation in those areas.

David Zwyer was not present at this time and did not give a report on NACDD.

Chuck Beatty stated he had submitted a report in writing to the committee on the status of the Developmental Center Study Group. Some items he mentioned included that the group was considering utilizing DC’s as a dental treatment facility and also for Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy.

Chair Adams explained to the committee that the Ohio Ethics Commission had ruled that it would be inappropriate for Chuck Beatty to serve on Council if he was also an officer of an organization that was receiving Council funds. Due to Chuck’s circumstances, the executive committee decided in March to only suspend his membership on Council until an election would determine whether Chuck would remain an officer of the organization.

Election of Vice-Chair:
Chair Adams stated that due to potential scheduling conflicts, she may not be able to attend the next meeting of the committee, emphasizing the need for an interim vice-chair to be elected. Chair Adams opened the floor for nominations for vice-chair of the committee. Michael Schroeder nominated Peter Keiser. Ruben Garcia moved that nominations be closed and Peter Keiser be elected interim vice-chair by acclimation. Mary Butler seconded the motion. No further discussion was offered on the motion and a voice vote was taken and the motion passed.

Cynthia Walker asked about Chuck Beatty’s suspension and asked if it was the policy of Council to allow suspensions. David Zwyer responded that given Chuck’s circumstances, the executive committee decided in this manner. Cynthia Walker and Jane Novick expressed a desire that Council be consistent in its application of decisions.

Announcements:
Chair Adams announced that Sue Hetrick had tendered her resignation as special advisor to the Public Policy Committee. According to Sue’s letter, the decision was not based on Council, but as a result of other obligations.

Jane Novick announced that she had attended meetings with Ohio legislators on the previous day and encouraged other members to also meet with their legislators and to include Paul Jarvis in the meeting, if possible.

Committee Legislative Update:
Jane Novick reported the Health and Employment Committee received information on two dental bills and was also aware that a bill was introduced to require health insurance to cover the treatment of autism. Paul Jarvis pointed out that a legislative brief has been completed on the bill.

Mary Butler report the Community Living Committee discussed Senate Bill 88. Shelley Papenfuse gave a legislative update on the bill and explained that local government officials were fighting a $30 per year assessment as part of a regional transit authority. There will be an opportunity for opponent testimony on May 15th. Shelley Papenfuse moved that the Public Policy Committee draft a position statement in opposition to Senate Bill 88 and that Council testify in opposition to the bill. Mary Butler seconded the motion. Courtney Jordan, Shelley Papenfuse and Diane Koehler expressed interest in testifying. No further discussion was offered. A voice vote was taken and the motion was passed. There were no abstentions.

Mary Butler also reported the committee had received information from Ohio Legal Rights Service regarding changes in the budget bill that impacted their investigatory authority. Tim Tobin addressed the committee and provided additional information that outlined how the changes would affect OLRS, especially with regards to the ombudsman program. Paul Jarvis stated the committee had been given materials that described the supporter’s position. Chair Adams stated that full Council would receive a report from OLRS the following day and the committee would refrain from taking a position until they had an opportunity to digest all of the information.

Nestor Melnyk and Paul Jarvis reported the Children’s Issues Committee decided to continue to work on the Special Education Scholarship, as it had been amended into the state operating budget. Paul Jarvis has also been asked to open the lines of communication with Rep. Vernon Sykes regarding legislation that would impact Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Staff Legislative Update:
Paul Jarvis indicated that many committees throughout the day had received specific budget information in their subject areas. Also included in the budget were changes that resolved the contracting dispute between the county boards and the state department. Part of the compromise included the creation of a futures study group. At the previous suggestion of Meg Kane, Council has been seeking a seat on the study group.

Paul Jarvis also reported on the budget bill as it relates to Medicaid Buy-In, special education scholarships, the Autism diagnosis program, occupational therapy covered by Medicaid, OLRS patient records access, DD Council’s budget and the Martin Settlement.

Other legislative matters that were discussed include:

• House Bill 129, a bill that would allow Council and others to participate in meetings via teleconference. Glenda Pope is preparing to testify in support of the bill the following Wednesday.
• Senate Bill 22, a bill that would require the civil commitment of sexually violent offenders into the forensic unit of mental hospital. Council has opposed provisions of this bill in the past, but with federal law changes, it looks as though the bill may pass. If there are opportunities to improve upon the bill, Council will seek it.
• House Bill 170, a bill to require health insurance coverage of Autism. A brief has been prepared and there will be more opportunities to discuss the bill in depth in the future.
• House Bill 67, the transportation budget, was changed by the Senate to not require the name of a person to be printed on a windshield placard for handicap parking privileges. Paul Jarvis will be working to develop a coalition to look at ways to curb abuse of windshield placards. Michael Schroeder, Peter Keiser and Jane Novick have expressed a desire to work on the issue.
• House Bill 131/House Bill 188 are the two dental bills Jane Novick referred to in her committee report. Both bills seek to expand access to dental health coverage and Council would be wise to support both.

There is also a hearing scheduled on May 17th at 1:30 to receive public input on the HCBS Waiver Reimbursement Methodology. If anyone wants more information, please contact Paul Jarvis.

Paul Jarvis also reported that the Public Policy section of Council’s website has been updated and contains new fact sheets and weekly updates.

Shelley Papenfuse added that the US Senate had taken some action on S. 294, a bill that would provide resources to states like Ohio to develop a rail hub. The bill was passed by committee and is expected to be approved by the Senate in the very near future.

Legislative Event:
Paul Jarvis provided the committee with a summary of the legislative event evaluations, provided by the Arc of Ohio. Gary Tonks addressed the committee and indicated that there were more cancellations than they expected. In the future, something would need to be done to try and cut down on last minute cancellations. Feedback has been very positive.

Other unfortunate circumstances included the fact that a caucus was called during the cocktail reception. Michael Schroeder expressed reservations about the success of the reception as only a few legislators had shown up during the time he attended. Gary Tonks noted that although support was offered by the county boards of MR/DD, not one superintendent participated in the event.

Chair Adams asked what follow up the grantee had conducted with legislators who had RSVP’d for the reception but did not attend. Gary Tonks responded that many members he has spoken with acknowledged that they could not be there and were apologetic.

Chair Adams suggested one item the committee may need to consider is the issue of supporting attendance at the legislative event. She stated that some language would need to be tightened up so that participants who were seeking support from Council to attend could receive support. She provided examples of the most recent event where individuals applied for support from the Empowerment Fund and were denied and they received little support from the DD Council Center’s for Public Policy.

New Business:
Chair Adams asked the committee to review the state plan amendment for the Legislative Event(s) grant. Paul Jarvis indicated that the plan amendment was an increase to pay for the accommodations, meals and transportation of Council members. These expenditures would normally have come from administrative funds, but to streamline the process, the Arc of Ohio was billed for Council expenses. The plan amendment would reimburse the grantee for those expenses. Chair Adams noted that the committee was supporting attendance by Council to the event in place of the normally scheduled Council meeting, which was cancelled in order to participate in the legislative event. Paul Jarvis indicated that approving the plan amendment would leave the Public Policy Committee with an unencumbered balance of $45,628.93 in 2007.

Michael Schroeder moved that the state plan amendment increasing the award amount for the Arc of Ohio be adopted. Mary Butler seconded the motion. No further discussion was offered on the motion. A voice vote was taken and the motion passed. There were no abstentions.

Chair Adams asked the committee to review a proposal received by HAVAR, Inc. to increase their grant allotment to pay for the printing of new brochures. The grantee has brochures with the previous grant name on them and would like to update them to the current “DD Council Centers for Public Policy”. Chair Adams noted the grantee submitted their request on letterhead with the new name and thought it was great that HAVAR was embracing the new name. Paul Jarvis informed the committee that approving the proposal would leave the Public Policy Committee with an unencumbered balance of $45,178.93.

Michael Schroeder moved the proposal submitted by HAVAR to increase their grant award by $450 to pay for new brochures be approved. Joyce Fox seconded the motion. No further discussion was offered. A voice vote was taken and the motion passed. There were no abstentions.

Paul Jarvis outlined some minor changes to the plan language for the DD Council Centers for Public Policy and the Legislative Event(s) grant. The changes incorporated new years and some adjustments to performance targets that were needed based on updated information from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities.

Jane Novick moved that the DD Council Centers for Public Policy plan language, as submitted to the committee, be approved. Joyce Fox seconded the motion. No further discussion was offered. A voice vote was taken and the motion passed. There were no abstentions.

Jane Novick informed the committee that as the Public Policy Committee’s grants were structured, the committee was running a surplus of about $8,000 per year and she suggested the committee consider putting this money towards supporting attendance at the legislative event. Michael Schroeder indicated that he would prefer to hold off on determining how those funds were spent until the time came that they may be needed.

David Zwyer clarified that he was not aware of any rule that prohibited the Empowerment Fund from supporting people to attend the event. It was clarified that the Solidarity Conference had a stipulation associated with it, but it didn’t apply to other Council supported events.

Joyce Fox expressed her belief that the committee should wait to see what happens in the future before setting the money aside for this purpose. Chair Adams recommended that the Empowerment Fund, if able, support people to attend the legislative event.

Announcements:
Paul Jarvis announced that DD Council was being quoted in the House Majority Caucus’s Budget Document and also in two budget “red books”. Further, a recent Members Only Brief about trusts cites David Zwyer almost 10 times. Council’s public policy efforts are beginning to really be noticed and that is good.

Ruben Garcia announced that he has decided to remain in Toledo and to not move to Columbus. He has been offered an opportunity to stay on in Toledo and accepted it.

Diane Koehler announced that she has received communications from both Governor Ted Strickland and U.S. Representative Steve Chabot. Diane met with Chabot in March and discussed employment options for people with disabilities to work in their own homes.

With no further business before the committee, Ruben Garcia moved that the committee adjourn. Michael Schroeder seconded the motion. Without objection the committee adjourned at 6:18 p.m.

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