I have been prompted tonight to share this story, so... professionally, I do public policy. And looking at 2020, my plan was to do comprehensive marriage reform for people with disabilities. I had a whole plan. I had talked to many of the loudest voices in the field about how to make sure marriage equality worked for everyone. I had a bill idea that I was planning to take to the hill. I was planning a whole media strategy with my organization.

A short thread about the idea of choice and the poisonous ways it's used in policy work. There is a deep and abiding assumption choice is an absolute good. Politicians rarely say they're going to take away choice. I always think of Obama's promise that people could choose to keep their health care plan after the ACA was passed.

.@rebeccavallas
laying out President Biden's commitments on SSI #DemolishDisabledPoverty facebook.com/thearcus/video… And now @mattbc! #DemolishDisabledPoverty

A short 101 on Medicaid HCBS funding because I know it can be confusing to everyone. Medicaid is health insurance for the lowest income folks, which includes many people with disabilities. HCBS are the home and community based services people with disabilities can receive. I say "can" receive because HCBS services are optional. Many services are mandatory, or required by the federal Medicaid law. HCBS are not. Often folks have to get on a waiver to access these services and waivers have waiting lists that can last decades.

So big news out of Congress!
bowman.house.gov/_cache/files/b… Led by @RepBowman @SenSherrodBrown @SenWarren @SenSanders @RonWyden, members of Congress wrote to @JoeBiden, asking for SSI provisions of the Biden Disability plan be included in upcoming legislation! #DemolishDisabledPoverty

But a mental illness is a disability. These interventions are not only inappropriate for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, they're also inappropriate for children with mental health disabilities.

https://twitter.com/splcenter/status/1383057888428576770

And, hot take, also really inappropriate for adults with mental health disabilities. We are outsourcing mental health care to the police.

Ah, I see the mental health and gun violence discourse had begun again. A couple of friendly reminders. 1)

https://twitter.com/bethanylilly/status/1354273713773010948?s=19

Okay, there's a fight going on in my mentions, so let's do means testing for disability benefits 101. First, people with disabilities rely on a f*** ton of benefits usually. This often includes Medicaid, housing supports via Section 8, nutrition assistance via SNAP, various state benefits, and some type of primary income assistance via the Social Security Administration.

You want to know what the Kavanaugh hearings did for me? When they ignored the fact that their candidate had ruled in favor of forcing women with disabilities to have abortions? Sure. Let's call it radicalization.

https://twitter.com/AJentleson/status/1308022227049340928

During the Kavanaugh hearings, I worked for an organization that takes positions on judicial nominees based on their prior decisions. I now work for an organization that broke decades of precedent to oppose the Kavanaugh nomination because of his disability jurisprudence.

A lot of us went down to pay our respects today. #RBG I was not to surprise to see that United Methodist was on point.

To all those who have been seeking mental health treatment in the past six months because we're in a pandemic and it's really stressful, how easy is has it been? (It hasn't been, I know. I'm sorry.)

https://twitter.com/bethanylilly/status/1306033403922468864

But I ask this because I think people assume it's easy to find help. Until they do it. And then they might think that it's easier somehow for people who have serious needs. It isn't.

All right. I've had a couple glasses of wine and it's been a really, really long week. So let's talk about the legislative filibuster. The filibuster is the rule that the Senate has that certain things requires 60 votes rather than a simple 51 vote majority.

Oh, hey, we have a website: joebiden.com/disabilitycoal… I particularly like this one:

This particular moment highlights something that I keep seeing. I harp a lot about how being a politician is a job and this is the perfect encapsulation of that message in a form that everyone can understand.

https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1300972015541780480

Is the Social Security Administration a disaster that's impossible to navigate? That's the job of the federal politicians you elect.

Like a certain reporter I know, I often talk to my mother when I want to know how people outside of the DC bubble feel about things. She asked me today if I'd ever thought about leaving the US.

https://twitter.com/BrynnTannehill/status/1299305312256757761

Spoiler, I am an extremely privileged white lawyer who has 100% put some research time into that. But a really fundamental part of me loves the idea of this country. And the fact that we continue, despite all of our fucking faults, to lead the world in disability policy.

FYI, big SSA interim final rule on pandemic-related overpayments was released today: s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspect… Some relevant quotes: "Beginning on August 31, 2020, we intend to resume workloads that we suspended beginning in mid-March 2020." This would include non-disability hearings and "processing and collection of overpayments" and "overpayment billing" per the SSA website.

Want to know what the proposed changes to the payroll tax mean? Watch this:

https://twitter.com/mattbc/status/1298380147364712454

Also, because I can't help but add something. If we cut payroll taxes and have to start spending money from the general revenue to pay for SSDI and Retirement, there is going to be considerable less money for SSI. Partially because of #ableism.

Hi! PSA: I do link to my current employer in my bio because a lot of people find me via the job I have/want to verify that I am in fact that person they heard speaking somewhere. But as my bio also says, this is my #personal handle. That means none of my tweets are on behalf of my organization. Legally, non-profits have a lot of rules about political campaigns and a lot of stuff I tweet about in my personal capacity wouldn't be ok for a non-profit.

Today, I'm asking you to tell your Members of Congress to include #HCBS services in the next COVID relief package. Why? For Michael. For Lara.

3 years ago, I started this day at midnight, at the kitchen table in a rental house, watching C-SPAN, and waiting to see if decades of progress made to improve the health care system of this country were going to be repealed. I remember a reporter dropping her notebook on Tim Scott's head.

"The plan, which senior Biden officials outlined to reporters on a call Monday night, centers around expanding access to long-term care for elderly and disabled Americans, as well as creating accessible, safe childcare options for working parents." abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden… "Biden's plan for long-term care would provide more funding to states to help end the wait list for home and community services under Medicaid"!!