The Friday Fax
a weekly news bulletin from the National Parent Network on Disabilities
AUGUST 2, 1996 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Number 6
IDEA: 1 Day More!
The US Senate is spending one more day before the August recess to complete as much
work as possible. Senators Frist and Harkin are still trying to agree on a Manager’s Package
to get S.1675 to the floor of the Senate for passage. Currently, there are 4 amendments
proposed for regular education and 4 for special education in the package. If there is an
agreement, the Bill will move with unanimous consent through the Senate. From there, the
bill would go to Conference with the House Bill.
If the last minute efforts fail, the Bills are for all intents and purposes, dead! No
predictions from NPND: either we will be very busy trying to influence the Conference
between the two bills, or we will be planning strategies of how to bring the entire special
education committee together to reauthorize in the 105th Congress, January 1997.
The Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation is seeking applications for the Parent Public Policy
Fellowship Program. Contact Steve Eidelman at the Kennedy Foundation (202-393-1250)for
more information.
Unfunded Mandates Report Dropped
The Advisory commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) voted on July 23 not to
approve their report on unfunded mandates. ACIR has run out of money and faces a dismal
fight to receive continued funding from Congress.
Developmental Disabilities Assistance & Bill of Rights Act Reauthorization Bill
Passes in House
On July 24, the House of Representatives Commerce Committee passed the Senate version
of the DD Act without any amendments which simply reauthorizes the DD Act for three
additional years. On Tuesday,July 30 the DD Act moved to the House Floor by unanimous
consent, where it passed by voice vote.
NPND Annual Meeting
An agenda for the September 28-29 Annual Meeting is coming together. We have
scheduled a pre-conference training for September 27: Family Friendly Public Policy
Workshop. We will be introducing Bright Futures for Families, a new NPND project in
which we are helping the Maternal and Child Health Bureau get their Health Supervision
Guidelines out to families. We hope to get lots of your input during the conference. Stay
tuned for more agenda updates.
Hotel Reservations must be made by August 26 to guarantee the room rates. Contact
NPND to register and for more information.
Justice for All Rallies
Because of NPND’s intense involvement with IDEA, the target date for the Rallies has
been changed. The date for these events across the US is now set as October 26, 1996.
For information, or a Rally planning kit, contact NPND.
NPND * 1727 King Street, Suite 305 * Alexandria, VA 22314
(703)684-6763 (V/TDD) * (703)836-1232 (fax) * npnd@cs.com * www.npnd.org