June 2007
I always have trouble concentrating during the summer, because I’m thinking about how much I want to be outside enjoying the weather. When I was a kid, I would always get my name written on the chalkboard for talking during class. When I wasn’t talking, I was eating. I had some little snack that most of the time I was sharing with a friend while the teacher was trying to lecture.
On one particular day, I had a little picnic laid out on my desk and was paying much more attention to the sunny view out the window than to the teacher. I thought I had nothing to worry about since we had a substitute and everyone knows that they aren’t really going to do anything to discipline the students…Right?
Suddenly, I heard a deep and furious voice thunder… “Miss Dallimore! Put the groceries away!!” It scared me so much that I knocked the soda off my desk and it proceeded to roll across the floor. The entire class was staring at me. The teacher’s face was so red I thought he might explode. I don’t remember what my punishment was, but I have always remembered the lesson. I have to pay attention; even if I have “summer on the brain.” Oh …um…that… and eat your lunch during lunch time.
Well, once again summer is here and even if your mind is focused on the rising temperatures or your plans for the weekend, there is something important happening in the State Legislature you should know about.
Assembly Bill 1113 (Brownley) would make important changes to the 250% Medi-Cal Working Disabled program. Those changes include waiving asset and resource limits, removing its current marriage penalties, exempting public and private retirement income for those enrolled and doing away with the program’s sunset provision.
The program is set to end in 2008, but passage of AB 1113 would make it permanent. It would allow recipients of this Medi-Cal program to work and marry whom they choose, turn 65 or build assets while working while maintaining their access to health care.
This bill has set for hearing in the Senate Health Committee on July 11th. If the Medi-Cal program is important to you; contact Senator Abel Maldonado to make your voice heard. He sits on the Senate Health Committee and needs to know what programs are important to people with disabilities on the Central Coast.
His phone number is (831) 657-6315. His email address is republican.sen.ca.gov/web/15/feed.asp
I’ll have more about what’s happening on the federal level in my July column after I return from the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) Conference in Washington D.C. To learn more about NCIL log onto www.ncil.org