[Nfbnet-members-list] National Council On Disabilities Town Halls at NFB Convention

[dandrews920 at comcast.net]

The National Council on Disability (NCD), a federal advisory body to the President, Congress, and federal agencies, will be hosting two townhall meetings during NFB’s National Convention at the JW Marriot to hear from disability advocates and inform our upcoming policy recommendations.  Lawmakers routinely rely on NCD’s reports and consult with our staff as they develop federal laws and policies impacting people with disabilities. At the town hall sessions, representatives from NCD will provide a general overview of our three new policy projects for Fiscal Year 2027 and the new organizing theme of “Building a Disability Middle Class” that will help shape our five-year strategic plan. After the brief overview, we’d like to hear from you on any of the topics we mention – from artificial intelligence to Medicaid services across state lines to expanding efforts to legalize assisted suicide, to any of your thoughts, insights, or experiences related to building a robust disability American middle class. Town hall dates and times as well as policy project descriptions follow below.

 

WHEN:         July 3, 2026

TIMES:         9:30AM – 11:30AM 

                                        1:30PM—3:30PM

WHERE:       Salon B (Level 3)                         

 

ASL and CART will be provided. Please send requests for accommodations to Kimie Eacobacci KEacobacci at ncd.gov <mailto:KEacobacci at ncd.gov>  as soon as possible.

 

*	Artificial intelligence (AI) – Congress is actively developing a national framework to regulate the use and development of AI. As state and federal agencies increasingly integrate AI into daily operations to assist with decision-making, the risk of automating legacy biases has moved from a theoretical concern to an urgent policy challenge. Currently, many AI models are built on datasets that either exclude the disability community entirely or rely on outdated medical-deficit models. Pursuing this report will allow NCD to set the standard for Anti-Ableist AI. Without proactive intervention, AI-driven hiring tools such as automated resume filters and video interview analysis will continue to inadvertently penalize potential employees who have non-standard speech patterns, mobility differences, or unique employment histories, effectively rolling back years of progress in workplace inclusion.

 

*	Assisted Suicide laws— The U.S. Senate has requested that NCD examine state assisted suicide laws and make policy recommendations on ways to prohibit discrimination in healthcare (since assisted suicide is now a legitimate “health care” practice in states that allow this practice). In 2019, NCD issued  <https://www.ncd.gov/report/the-danger-of-assisted-suicide-laws/> The Danger of Assisted Suicide Laws, and since that time, six more states enacted such laws, bringing the total to 13, while others have expanded or sought to expand their original laws despite original promises of their narrow construction. In this new project, NCD will seek to examine specific dangers of various expansion efforts, including efforts to include non-terminal disabilities in eligibility criteria, shorten waiting periods, remove residency requirements, and allow other allied health professionals to provide access to lethal prescription drugs. It will examine the Canadian experience of allowing all disabled with “irremediable suffering” to participate in assisted death and euthanasia. Furthermore, this report will examine the increase in recorded instances of people with non-terminal disabilities like diabetes, anorexia, rheumatoid arthritis) accessing assisted suicide in the U.S. and inform lawmakers what are the under-resourced social determinants of health and well-being and do they render “choice” a dubious term extolled when legalization is pursued?

 

*	Medicaid Portability – NCD is examining the systemic barriers caused by the lack of interstate portability within Medicaid and Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) programs, especially the requirement that individuals must re-establish their disability eligibility when moving between states. NCD would like to hear from you about the unique experiences of blind beneficiaries and the obstacles you encounter when moving to another state. This report would examine how state-by-state eligibility decisions, waiting lists, and re-certification requirements limit mobility, employment opportunities, and family stability for Americans with disabilities. The study will highlight the economic and human effects of these policies, evaluate the roles of federal and state authorities that contribute to fragmentation, and suggest policy solutions—such as interstate portability agreements, standardized disability determinations, or federal guidance—to enable individuals with disabilities to move, work, and live across state lines without losing access to essential supports.

 

Kimie Eacobacci

Legislative Affairs Specialist, NCD

 From: Kimie Eacobacci <keacobacci at ncd.gov <mailto:keacobacci at ncd.gov> > 



 

 

 

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