Autism Society of North Carolina Public Policy updates:
- Public Policy Targets for 2025 & 2026
- NC General Assembly and new state administration
- New Congress and Federal Administration begin work in Washington, DC
- What you can do to help educate lawmakers on autism
- How to get in touch and what to say
Public Policy Priorities for 2025 & 2026
ASNC has updated its public policy targets for the next two-year legislative cycle. Most of our priorities are long-term issues that require ongoing advocacy. With past legislative wins on guardianship and expanded access to Medicaid, we have added three “new” issues to the list of priorities:
- Increase funding for specialized crisis support programs for people on the autism spectrum to prevent unnecessary hospitalization and long term, out-of-home placements.
- Support the development of programs addressing the needs of people on the autism spectrum who are aging.
- Close the healthcare coverage and evidence-based services gap for children on the autism spectrum with TEFRA/Katie Beckett waivers under Medicaid.
None of these issues are new to our community but all have increased in importance in the last few years. We hope our advocacy combined with yours will have a positive outcome on these and our other policy priorities.
NC General Assembly and new state administration
The NCGA is back in Raleigh for the long legislative session that determines the state budget for fiscal year 2025-27 (beginning July 1). This year brings new leadership to the NC House with Rep. Destin Hall as House Speaker replacing Tim Moore who was elected to Congress. NC Senate president pro tem remains Sen. Phil Berger. Many committees in both chambers have added members and changed leadership as well. We will have more information on additional changes as the session moves along.
North Carolina also has a new governor, Gov. Josh Stein, and many new leaders of state agencies including new Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green, and new Secretary of Health and Human Service Dr. Devdutta Sangvai, whose departments have a direct impact on services and supports for people on the autism spectrum in NC.
New Congress and Federal Administration begin work in Washington, DC
The 119th Congress began its work on January 3 with five new house representatives from North Carolina. We expect with a new president and changes in federal administrators, we will see many new proposals that could affect people on the autism spectrum. Already Congress is reported to be discussing changes such as per capita caps on Medicaid funds, cuts to the federal healthcare funding match to states, and others. The current president included elimination of the federal Department of Education in campaign materials, but it remains to be seen how this sort of change, which may require Congressional review, would be implemented.
What you can do to help educate lawmakers on autism
With so many newly elected officials in office, now is a good time to introduce yourself to your own elected and/or appointed officials! As a starting place, look up who represents you in both the US Congress (who makes laws and decides a budget for the entire country), and in the NC General Assembly (who makes laws and determines the budget for services and supports in NC). You can find your elected officials by entering your address here.
Please remember…
You have two elected US senators and one elected representative in the US House of Representatives for the place you live. They work in Washington, DC but also have offices in North Carolina.
You have one elected state senator and one elected representative in the NC House for the NC General Assembly districts in which you live. They work in Raleigh at the General Assembly, but since North Carolina has a “part-time” legislature, they also live and work in their local NC communities.
How to get in touch
Your elected officials all have an official email and/or online form where you can contact them. All elected offices have an official office phone number if you want to call their office.
Members of Congress typically have individual websites with an online form to send them messages. Members of the NC General Assembly (NCGA) have email addresses published on their member info webpages at https://www.ncleg.gov/.
We recommend contacting your elected officials by email. Phone calls are great for urgent issues and expressing your opinion on specific bills but most communication is by email or online forms. (Please note: physical, handwritten letters mailed to Congress are screened and can be delayed by weeks or months. Handwritten letters to NCGA members are also screened and delivery can be delayed.)
More tips for contacting your elected officials can be found here. Our Advocacy 101 toolkit is available on the ASNC website to view or download.
What to say…
In your email:
- Introduce yourself and/or your loved on the autism spectrum and let them know where you/they live.
- Tell them about life with autism: what’s going well and what the challenges are.
- If you are getting services or supports that are helping, let them know – especially if you or they are getting Medicaid, Social Security benefits, services in schools, or other state and federally-funded programs.
- If you are waiting for services, have been denied help, or are struggling to get services staffed, let them know that as well. State and federal elected officials control the funding for programs like the home and community Innovations Waiver, 1915i services under Medicaid, education funding that supports IDEA mandated education access, housing assistance, and provider rates for services and programs.
- Let them know how important these things are to you and that you hope they will work to improve access rather than make it harder to get help. You may have a specific issue that is important you that we have not mentioned here – if so, let them know.
- Thank them for their time and attention.
If you want us to know that you contacted them, please (if possible) copy Jennifer Mahan, Director of Public Policy at the Autism Society of North Carolina, on your email or forward a copy of your email or letter to her. If you have questions or problems finding who represents you or figuring out which part of government deals with the issue you are concerned about, Jennifer Mahan can be reached by email at jmahan@autismsociety-nc.org.
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