Center for Disability Rights expresses outrage over DNC Decision to invite Governor Kathy Hochul to speak at the DNC Convention in Chicago

The Center for Disability Rights is outraged by the Democratic National Committee’s decision to invite Governor Kathy Hochul to speak at the DNC Convention. Like her predecessor, Governor Hochul has systematically attacked the services and supports used by individuals with disabilities to live in freedom. Governor Hochul is currently dismantling the state’s network of Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Fiscal Intermediaries, which include Disability-led non-profits called Independent Living Centers, in favor of contracting with one out-of-state private equity corporation. She has described this vital community-based service as “a racket.” As part of her attacks on the program, she has made statements questioning whether Disabled Medicaid recipients utilizing these services are truly “deserving” of the assistance they have been authorized to receive. Finally, she has steadfastly refused repeated requests from leaders in the Disability Community who have asked to meet with her so she can understand how her comments are ableist and offensive.

“The DNC’s decision to elevate someone who is attacking Disabled people and the services that allow us to live in freedom is a slap in our face,” said Kenyatta DaCosta, the Chair of the CDR Board of Directors who also utilizes consumer directed services. “Disabled people designed and fought for the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program. In fact, CDR volunteers wrote a 200-page policy report that established the statewide program. Now, Governor Hochul is taking the program away from the Disability-led non-profit organizations that established it and is giving a massive statewide contract to an out-of-state corporation. She is stealing from the poor and disabled to further enrich the rich.”

The Hochul administration has made every effort to prevent the Disability Community from addressing this issue with the Governor. “I had been invited to Governor Hochul’s Disability Pride event at the Governor’s mansion but was informed that I was disinvited,” said Bruce Darling, President/CEO of the Center for Disability Rights. Darling, who was the principal author of CDR’s 1993 policy report titled “Early to Bed/Late to Rise,” which underpinned the advocacy to establish the program continued, “I stayed outside the Governor’s mansion with other protestors. I was appalled to see that they had installed barricades that blocked access to the property from the street. People with disabilities trying to go to the event found themselves stuck on the street without access to the sidewalk because of their security measures. That says a lot about Governor Hochul.”

Although Darling was disinvited to the event, others chose not to attend. “I chose not to go, but I was proud to be outside in solidarity with protesters fighting for our freedom and the services that support it,” said Denise Figueroa, Executive Director of the Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley. “Frankly, it felt like the Governor just wanted a photo op of her surrounded by people with disabilities. I’ve had my fill of telethons.”

People in the Disability Community see this as part of a larger pattern of bullying behavior. “Instead of recognizing how her comments have hurt Disabled people and meeting with Disabled leaders to understand her ableism, Governor Hochul has continued to double down on her attacks,” said Jensen Caraballo, an attendant service user who had been institutionalized as a child. “Instead, she is using her bully pulpit to bully Disabled people. She apparently feels that the best way to assert her power is to punch down.”

The Governor’s ableism is clear when you look at her track record on other issues. “I was hopeful that Hochul’s attention to creating a diverse administration and specifically empowering female leaders would mean she understood the significance of empowering people with disabilities, particularly women with disabilities, to have the right to make choices about their bodies and lives,” said Tammy Papperman, Vice President of CDR’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program. “Although she strongly supports protecting women’s choice in healthcare, she apparently doesn’t extend that to Disabled women in home care.”

CDR has noted that while Democrats have stood behind the Governor despite her blatant ableist attacks on Disabled people, Republican members of the House from New York are supporting the Disabled Community, which is giving their campaigns traction within the Disability Community. “Representatives Molinaro and Lawler, in particular, have consistently expressed their support for the Disability Community. At the same time, they are cosponsoring federal legislation called the Latonya Reeves Freedom Act that would give Disabled people an enforceable civil right to live in freedom,” said Darling. “Their support for our civil rights and pushback against Hochul’s attacks is resonating in the Disability Community and helping them secure votes from Disabled people and our allies. The fact that Democrats are entirely unaware of this or simply don’t care about it illustrates how little regard they have for the Disability Community.”