July 10, 2002
Inside ■ Meet Our Intern — p. 2 ■ Cancer Project — p. 3 ■ ADA Conference Workshops — p. 3
Directory of Organizations — Page 8
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“Get into politics as if your lives depended on it, because they do.” - Justin Dart, Jr.
Non-profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Mpls. MN Permit No. 4766
Volume 13, Number 7
SOURCES
RESOURCES
July 10, 2002
JUSTIN DART: 1930-2002 THE LEGACY OF JUSTIN DART
“To the critics who complain that ADA has not achieved total justice ... I say what about the Bill of Rights and the Ten Commandments? Have they achieved total justice? The vision of justice is an eternal long march to the Promised Land of the good life for all.”
by John Tschida
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- Justin Dart, Jr.
Justin Dart, Jr., Completes His Mission June 22, 2002
Top Disability Legislator Will Not Run Again by Amy Farrar
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ext year, the disability community will be losing one of its strongest advocates when State Representative Kevin Goodno retires. Goodno, 39, says he plans on spending more time with his two daughters and his wife, who is expecting a third child in August. Disability advocates and legislators alike all agree that perhaps the single most important thing Goodno did for the disability community was help pass the work incentives act in 1999. Also known as the Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities law (MAEPD), this legislation makes it easier for people with disabilities who have personal care attendants (PCAs) to enter the workforce and still keep their state paid health insurance. “He was the bill’s chief sponsor, and without him, it never would have happened,” said John Tschida, senior director of
public affairs and research at Courage Center. MA-EPD, written by the Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, was guided through the legislative process by Goodno. According to Joel Ulland, public policy manager for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society, MA-EPD was the only spending bill passed in the last four years that was not part of a larger spending package, “largely because of Representative Goodno’s leadership.” As a result of his efforts, Goodno, who chaired the Health and Human Services Finance Committee (HHSFC), received the Legislator of the Year Award from the MS Society in 1999 and 2001. “Now there are 6,200 people with disabilities in Minnesota who are working because of the work incentives bill,” said Ulland. Goodno received the same
award from the Minnesota State Council on Disability and from Arc Minnesota, as well as other awards. “No one has been a stronger voice for people with disabilities in Minnesota,” said Tschida, who with other advocates, credits Goodno with the success of disability programs during the last budget session—despite the $2.3 billion dollar budget shortfall. Beyond MA-EPD Another piece of legislation Goodno guided through the process was the patient protections bill, which offers better continuity of care for people who change health plans, and improves access to specialty care. Goodno also helped extend the state prescription drug program to cover people under 65 who receive Medicaid. The program takes effect this Goodno - cont. on p. 6
any writers wiser and better than I have written of the passing of Justin Dart, a leader of both human and disability rights for the last 25 years. He was a tireless supporter of the disadvantaged and the marginalized, recognizing that it was often the trifecta of public policy, and environmental and attitudinal barriers that created this secondclass social and economic status—not one’s physical or cognitive abilities. Dart was a Washington power broker, armed not only with a razor-sharp mind and knowledge of political systems and players, but with the money to make him impossible to ignore. There have been whispers about his wealth, as if this somehow compromised his status as a “true” member of the disability community. There is no doubt he was a son of privilege, inheriting great wealth and later creating it in Japan as a businessman. Wealth seems to run in families like Dart’s the way receding hairlines do in mine, passed down from one generation to the next. There are no apologies needed for this. We should all be thankful Dart chose to focus his attention and resources on improving community integration for all members of the disability community—not just wheelchair users like himself. But while wealth has a way of creating more wealth after a certain point, there are no like economic principles guiding the building and sustaining of disability advocates with the passion and skill that comprise the real crux of Justin’s legacy. Unfortu-
nately, Adam Smith’s invisible hand guiding market forces does not tap people on the shoulder and invite them into the disability fold. This we must be mindful in doing: creating a cadre of future leaders to carry the banner and fill the footsteps of those who have gone before. Dart was aware of this, and invited countless individuals with disabilities to his Washington home in a grassroots, independent living version of Ronald Reagan’s kitchen cabinet—of which Dart’s father was a member. In doing so, Justin was not only mentoring, but empowering young people, simultaneously building a knowledge base and self-esteem in each of those visitors. But this alone will not ensure the staying power of a new generation of leaders within the disability community. We need more formal programs like Partners in Policymaking, founded in 1987 by the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities. Its goal is to engage and build the skills of individuals with disabilities and the parents of young children with disabilities to become the leaders of tomorrow. Since its inception, 46 states have followed suit and close to 10,000 program graduates are scattered across the nation. (Applications for the next local program are due August 1.) Programs like these are essential capacity-building efforts. They take resources and energy, and the return on investment may take some time, but they are vital in regenerating our community. The American Association of
People with Disabilities is helping to encourage new blood as well, drawing attention each year to individuals with disabilities around the country with its Paul Hearne Awards. Recipients garner $10,000 each to aid in their efforts. These are important programs that we all should know about and support. These are people we should be forging relationships with and programs that deserve replication. We need a nationwide network of new leaders to backfill our aging mentors. Today in Washington, and scattered throughout the country in pockets from California to Colorado to Texas, is a loosely knit coalition of disability advocates and activists with disabilities, doing yeoman’s work at the state level and descending on the nation’s capital when needed to flex their political muscle on federal issues. They include the giants of the independent living movement: Judy Heumann, Lex Frieden, Bob Kafka, Becky Ogle, June Kailes, Marca Bristo, John Kemp, Fred Fay, and others who can trace their roots to the dark days when “No wheelchairs allowed” signs were not only a reality, but they were bought and paid for with public tax dollars. These folks have fought the good fight together and their collective strength has fundamentally altered the way people with disabilities are viewed by the governmental and political systems we encounter. We owe it to ourselves to look beyond our state borders and engage others in all corners Dart - cont. on p. 2