March 17, 2026
Letter from the Director of Advocacy
Since my last message, the state budget has changed a little. The good news is that Representative Dirk Deaton, who leads the House Budget Committee, put back the money for personal assistance and medical personal assistance in the self-directed supports program. He also put back the funding for day programs.
Two smaller self-directed supports programs, called Community Specialist and Individual Goods and Services, are still not funded. We are not taking action on these yet. You can read more in the Budget Update below.
Also, on February 25th, the Senate Chair of Appropriations, Rusty Black, shared a public message that he will restore cuts to developmental disability services in the Senate. He will make his changes after the House votes on the budget bills. This means we still have time to speak up and advocate.
Disability Rights Legislative Day (DRLD) went really well! We had more people attend than ever before, and their advocacy made a big difference with state lawmakers. Read the details in the article below.
Thank you all for your hard work and advocacy!
Christina Ingoglia
Policy Advocacy Director
Budget Update
As of March 7th, the House Budget Chair, Representative Dirk Deaton, has restored the Governor-proposed cuts to day program, self-directed supports, and personal assistance rates. This is a significant restoration of funding from the Governor’s proposal, and you made the difference—sharing your stories, participating in Disability Rights Legislative Day, and more.
However, in the House Budget proposal, the Community Specialist Service and the Individual Goods and Supports Service are still zeroed out. If passed, these cuts would go into effect on July 1, 2026.
We remain hopeful that people with disabilities will continue to have access to their DD services, especially since the largest cuts have been restored.
What You Can Do
The legislature has until May 8th to finish the budget before it goes back to the Governor. For now, we are taking a break from asking people to take action. We will send out an action alert when it is the right time to tell your State Senators how the Community Specialist and Individualized Goods and Services programs help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
Record Attendance at This Year’s DRLD!
MODDC is pleased to share that the 25th annual Disability Rights Legislative Day (DRLD) had a record turnout this year! According to Capitol police, there were approximately 1,200 participants. Self-advocates and lawmakers spoke at the rally about numerous issues impacting the disability community, including the proposed cuts to Medicaid services. We want to thank all of the speakers, advocates, organizers and attendees who made this year’s DRLD a huge success! You can watch the video here.
Policy Fellow Update
By Lydia Olmsted
Over the past few months, I have been working with MODDC to make the Missouri House of Representatives’ website easier for people with disabilities to use. I am blind, so I use a screen reader to get information online. I found some problems with the links for House hearings. These problems kept me from getting to the live streams or the recordings. After working with the House ADA Coordinator, the links are now labeled correctly, and screen readers can read them. This means blind people can now access House hearings. I am excited to keep working on this so the House and Senate websites become even more accessible.
I also focused on helping make Disability Rights Legislative Day (DRLD) more accessible. I worked with MODDC in several ways:
- I helped proofread and hand out the Braille schedules.
- I told people about the listening devices and helped them know if the devices would work with their hearing aids or cochlear implants.
- I asked for a captioning link so DeafBlind people could read the rally speeches on their phones.
I am excited to keep doing policy and advocacy work with MODDC!
