Forty-three or so (maybe I should get an exact count – just so we return with everyone?) staff and volunteers from the Center for Disability Rights and Regional Center for Independent Living joined with ADAPT today for a day of action in our capitol, Albany. We met at the CDR office at 5:00 AM and although strange forces were aligning against us (our first bus had a flat, the door for the wheelchair lift on the second bus wouldn’t close, then it wouldn’t open, then we got people stuck in an elevator on their way to a protest) we ultimately got to where we needed to be on time and had a very productive day.

First on our agenda was A.10440 – our bill to establish an Independent Living Center in Ontario County. After we got our folks unstuck from the elevator, we amassed our 43ish people just outside the NYS Assembly Chamber. Although the Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms exhibited some odd behaviors, like whispering in the ear of Dean DeRusso our Deaf Systems Advocate, and telling me that I had never been in a room that I have actually been in about 50 times before, his boss was much more helpful.

We met with Assemblymembers Joe Errigo and Bill Reilich, co- and multi-sponsors of A.10440, respectively. We thanked them for their support and briefly discussed the ongoing efforts to establish the center. We also requested to meet with Assemblymember Susan John and although Ms. John was present in the chamber, the Sergeant-at-Arms reported to us that she was “unavailable” all day. Having thanked our friends and been unable to meet with one of the legislators that holds the key to future success, we moved on.

Our crew moved back down the elevators and swiftly down the hallways of the first floor of the Capitol building. All of the sudden, our people were filing into the main office of the NYS Division of Budget. Chanting “Free Our Brothers, Free Our Sisters, Free Our People – NOW!”, we demanded to meet with the budget director. We were soon greeted by the Deputy Director and we explained why our people were upset.

The problem is this… in 2004, under Governor George Pataki, we passed legislation to create the Nursing Facility Transition and Diversion Medicaid Waiver. After years of stalling by the Federal Government and then the NYS Department of Health, we’re finally in a position to see the waiver serve people and free thousands of people from nursing facilities. The only remaining hitch – providers need to know what they are going to get paid, and how to be paid. The Division of Budget has stalled and while they stall, our people rot and die in places they don’t even want to be.

For me, one striking moment in this protest occurred as more state troopers gathered and started discussing what they were going to do with us. I recognized one of the officers from a protest we did in 2001. As that protest dragged on through a long evening in the Governor’s “War Room”, that officer had taken a lot of time to understand what our issue was. He understood it at a deeper level than most, because his wife was a nurse. That protest led to arrests and we were prepared for this protest to end that way as well.

After a short and feverish negotiation, among the loud chants of ADAPTers, the Deputy Director went from saying that the reimbursement rates would be released in a few days, to saying that they had been released today!

Whichever story you want to chose – we won – and our people will be freed! Hopefully, the next time I see that officer I’ll be able to tell him that New York finally has developed an effective means of getting people out of facilities and getting them the services they need at home. Instead of ending in arrest… maybe the officer and I can go for some ice cream?

With our protest at the Division of Budget over as quickly as it started, we still had time to go back to work on A.10440. Our group marched over to the Legislative Office Building and took the elevators to the fifth floor. There we visited the office of Assemblymember John, since she was unavailable before, we thought we should check in her office.

Ms. John was not in her office, but all 43(ish) of us met with her staff in the hallway and reiterated our need for her support of A.10440. Debbie Bonomo and Pam and Pat Taggart delivered a way bigger than poster size letter to Assemblymember John with the names of everyone who has signed post cards in support of A.10440.

We then got back into the elevators and up to the ninth floor we went. We marched down the hallway to the office of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. We met with a staff person and delivered the more than 500 signed post cards we have gathered in support of A.10440. The cards were wrapped nicely in a colorful bow to make the delivery all the more memorable for the staff.

All that said and done… with Waiver reimbursement rates on their way to the Department on Health, we marched to the hotel, victorious.

Chris Hilderbrant reporting from the front lines of the fight for disability rights and equality.