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all right it's 10 o'clock i'm going to go ahead and get started thank you so much to everyone for joining us today my name is alan taverna i'm the policy officer for the arc of massachusetts as many of you know the arc of massachusetts is a disability advocacy group and we're dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities including autism and their family before i introduce our mc for today's event i'm just going to run through some logistical items this is our first time running the legislative reception in our virtual webinar format so please excuse the inevitable hiccups we may have today we wanted to make this virtual uh reception as accessible as possible we're so pleased to have a spanish translator with us today is uh carlos libba and believe sorry who will be translating or to listen to the webinar in spanish please click on the globe looking icon which is in your settings panel or toolbar which may be at the top or bottom of your screen um you can click on the globe icon and click either spanish or english and then mute original audio the instructions will also be in the chat box as well as you can see we also have an asl interpreter providing sign language throughout the webinar as well as closed captioning available in english and if you would like to have a spanish translation of the closed captioning please click on the link in the chat box and follow the instructions we'll be keeping attendees muted until the end of the webinar but if you have any questions or comments please provide them in the chat box and we'll have staff monitoring that our event is currently streaming live on facebook and we have staff monitoring comments there as well and finally we have uh we asked the legislators and state agency officials to please put your names and titles in the chat box or comment on facebook um so we'll we'll know that you're here with us today and now i'm delighted to introduce lauren beckham falcon falcone who is our mc for today lauren is an on-air co-host on wro 105.7 fm's the ror morning show before discussing current events on the airwaves she wrote about them for 17 years for the boston herald where she was an award-winning reporter and columnist lauren is the honorary board member of the massachusetts down syndrome congress and a graduate of the mass family's leadership series and a longtime friend to mgdc in the arc of massachusetts she lives in canton with her husband dave and their daughter lucy we're so grateful to have lauren with us today go ahead and kick it off thank you so much do we have lauren on with us so much and she may have lost connection so we're hoping to get her back in all right well i'm going to go ahead with lauren's uh script um and just whenever she joins we'll we'll have her work out we'll have her uh we'll just have her speak when she when she joins us so thank you so much for joining us today for the 43rd annual and first virtual legislative reception hosted by the massachusetts developmental disabilities council in the arc of massachusetts here she is ellen all right stop back got reconnected welcome back go ahead oh sorry now i'm like it's okay i don't have the fancy background but this is this is our hiccup so okay got it over with now we're done okay good did you already introduce me i did i did you're good to go okay well thank you so so much for hanging on for me and also for joining us today for the 43rd annual and first virtual legislative reception hosted by the massachusetts developmental disabilities council and the arc of massachusetts you know each year we gather in march it's my favorite type of time of year to celebrate intellectual and developmental disabilities awareness month this is my fourth year moderating this legislative legislative reception the first virtually so i'm here and i'm especially pleased to be here as the mother of a child with down syndrome my 17 year old daughter lucy although she tells everybody she's still 16 she's lying about her age i've taught her well lucy has changed my life in so many great and unexpected ways you know she made me a mom which was a hard-fought dream come true for me she's made me grateful inspired and awed all the time spending all this time with her in sort of lockdown has been really a joy she's opened a whole new world for me filled with perseverance gratitude and joy and a world that includes obviously all of you and i've made so many good friends through lucy um as ellen mentioned our event is currently streaming live on facebook if you're on facebook or twitter our events hashtags are m a l e g r e c 2021 m a leg rec 2021 and equity for idd to spread the word also any reminder for any legislator or agency official who you would like to announce yourself please type your name in the title in the chat box and first of all it's my complete pleasure to introduce the new chair of the massachusetts developmental disabilities council public policy committee and my friend angela ortiz angela ortiz i love so much and she is the proud mom and tireless advocate of beautiful ayla who i follow on facebook she has a disability and is medically fragile angela is the founder of the statewide grassroots coalition the massachusetts pediatric home nursing care campaign a former lend fellow at the eunice kennedy shriver center at umass medical school and recently earned a second master's degree in public administration at suffolk university she's amazing known to be a catalyst for change and a positive disrupter i love that term her passion and dynamic leadership will serve our community so well for what lies ahead angela delivered a powerful keynote address at our 2019 legislative reception i remember it well and we're happy to welcome her back angela will deliver our opening remarks thank you so much lauren good morning everyone um on behalf of the mass developmental disability council and the arc of mass i welcome you to the 43rd annual legislative reception um it's really an honor for me to be here today with you and really every day i love to be surrounded by this community i'm honored to be a part of it with my daughter ayla and we have important work to do collectively together so i'm grateful that you're all joining us today just a little background for those of you who don't know the um mdd council is an independent agency funded by the federal government and we work with the commonwealth of mass to really better support people with developmental disabilities and their families we serve as an impartial educational resource that really shines a light on your stories and experiences for policy makers at both the federal and state level we believe that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities must have the opportunity to live full productive and independent lives in the community i'd like to take a moment to both acknowledge and thank executive office of health and human services secretary mary lou sutters senate president karen spilka and speaker of the house ron mariano for participating with us and hearing our collective voices i'd also like to congratulate today's awardees our legislators of the year uh senator michael rodricks and representative josh cutler who are true champions for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in their families in the legislature and you'll hear more about their tremendous work um soon uh the theme of this year's reception is equity in the face of uncertainty moving forward together the council and the ark share a strong belief that the greatest impact on public policy for our community occurs through your self-advocacy this event is one opportunity out of many to educate your elected officials about how policies legislation positions the yay or nay vote on the floor affects your daily lives and your rights at the end of this program i encourage you to reach out to your legislators in both the house and the senate they need to know who you are and what matters to you in order to be awakened to your reality equitable access to health care education community-based services housing employment our workforce the list goes on starts with an email a phone call a conversation from you our legislators must hear from not one of us but all of us in order to be the collective force we need to be for meaningful and sustainable change to happen and that change promises to improve lives not only for people with disabilities and their families but for society as a whole i want to thank the elected officials who are with us the legislative aides and state agency representatives most of all thank you to members of this community each one of you continue to show up and share your personal stories despite the immense barriers and inequities you and your families encounter across the lifespan what is profound and awe inspiring is the resilience and determination of this community and i know that this will continue to be a shared source of fuel as we move forward together it is my pleasure to introduce secretary mary lou sutters of the executive office of health and human services secretary sutter's first trained as a professional social worker and served as the commissioner of the department of mental health she has been on numerous government commissions and committees led a well-respected human services organization and taught at boston college the council and the arc especially appreciate secretary sutter's background as a direct support staff member during the early days of de-institutionalization we are grateful for her leadership on behalf of people with disabilities and their families during the covid19 pandemic and she continues to be responsive to the needs of our community here is secretary sutter's with today's greeting and the proclamation announcing march as intellectual and developmental disabilities month everyone to my good friends at the massachusetts developmental disabilities council to the arc of massachusetts to all who've gathered together today thank you for that kind invitation and thank you lauren for that introduction first and foremost thank you for what you do on behalf of individuals with different abilities to advocate for their needs to make sure families get the supports they need and their loved ones the support that they need in order to thrive each and every day this past year has been an extraordinary challenge we know that but we've stayed together we've worked together we've worried together we've found opportunity together your efforts are absolutely critical to enhancing the lives of individuals we serve and who are your loved ones so that they have opportunity even during a time of pandemic and it's really important to acknowledge the needs and the supports of families and caregivers there are more than 40 000 families that comprise the community of individuals with different abilities in the commonwealth of massachusetts you let your voices be heard your resilience your creativity your nimbleness and yes your patience has been remarkable and despite an extremely challenging year we've had a few positive milestones once again we ensured that that turning 22 class was supported filed by the governor and completely endorsed by our colleagues in the legislature the governor signed nikki's law an important step in protecting your loved ones from abuse and neglect very important milestone and i really applaud advocates and our colleagues in the legislature for finding common ground in passing that very important piece of legislation and we delivered a significant rate increase for the 15 000 direct care support professionals who work in our long-term adult services residential programs across the commonwealth together we are in this in response to the pandemic we have tried to be flexible giving the services and supports so that staff can support your loved ones and clients in the best possible way please know that and we will continue to work together it has been a hard year and we know that vaccines are the hope for the future we were very proud in massachusetts where we took a different path around vaccines and in our phase one as i think all of you know but just to remind us that our phase one prioritize our congregate care programs from our larger state facilities to our smaller group homes state operated and state financed and those who are among the very first to be vaccinated staff and residents please know that has always been important to us to support individuals with different abilities and disabilities in massachusetts i want to give a shout out to two very special legislators and i know that they're going to be joined by the speaker of the house for representative cutler and senate president karen spilka for senate for state senator mike rogers these gentlemen always clear always carry your issues to heart they never trade them off and they have worked time in and time out day in and day out for the issues that you care so deeply about so to representative cutler congratulations for being the state representative of the year and to senator mike rodriguez congratulations for your award as legislator of the year with the developmental disabilities council and the mass arc we work well together we work hand in hand together on behalf of all individuals with disabilities in our commonwealth thank you take care i hope this virtual day comes together in the way that's important to all of you and i look so forward to being present truly present with you in the future and as we all know it is my honor on behalf of governor baker to announce a special proclamation march is intellectual and developmental disabilities awareness awareness month and every month in the commonwealth should be intellectual and developmental disabilities awareness thank you for having me i'm mary lou sutter thank you secretary sutters for joining us today and your leadership along with governor baker i think we're going to put up the proclamation right i think so look at that there it is that's great okay i think oh here we go all right so i'm just making sure my computer works let's do this all right i'm so pleased to introduce our keynote speakers today evan and julie messina who i have known for many many years and i'm so excited evan is 16 years old while i can't believe it he's born and raised in cambridge massachusetts where he still lives with his parents and two sisters he's currently a sophomore at cambridge ridge and latin school where his favorite subject is media technology maybe he could help me with my zoom sometimes in his first internship last summer he worked as a content producer for cambridge community television cctv and he made his videos about teen life he has a passion for space exploration and was selected to be a space camp scholar at the u.s space and rocket center in 2019 he hopes one day to work in media relations for the space industry and he loves sharing about his life and as an operation house called co-teacher to medical students he happens to have down syndrome and evan and his mother julie are here today to discuss how this chaotic year has impacted their lives and how despite the challenges of the pandemic their family hopes to move forward stronger and more resilient so let's welcome evan and julie hello hi y'all okay let's do screen share buddy all right let's get this over with okay can you let's come on hold on buddy let's do it are we are we sharing our screen yeah okay yeah all right you're better at this than i am of course i am okay buddy hi legislators my name is evan messina and this is my presentation um growing up is not as easy as it seems and i have a big family my parents work hard they care for my family for our education and financial needs my dad works in medical software company and my mom works in a foundation that works for people with disabilities and i have two sisters um michaela is 14 years old she is a freshman in high school um she studies hard and plays sports she's an average student of a little staff in the attitude thanks evan that's like you maybe but yeah my other one is um marissa she's two years old and she is a crazy lady that one yes and i'm the oldest i'm 16 years old um now that i'm 16 i can drink coffee decaf only though yes and i am eligible to try for my driver's permit and i can't wait for that i can definitely wait for that maybe on a car then yes um as you may have been told i go to the cambridge online school and i am serving in the 10th grade i have a lot of favorite classes but i love media technology that takes photos and makes videos this year i'm taking a class called music media production which combines music and video i get to make music online and also quite a different instruments including the bass clarinet i also play it for my school band which is a falcon concert band thank you for sharing that evan when i hear evan play i'm in such awe of what he has overcome to get to where he is because when he was born i was told to lower my expectations because he had down syndrome life would be difficult learning would be hard and there would be delays across the board it's true that evan has challenges he has had various forms of therapy all of his young life but we chose not to place the limit of low expectations on him so in fourth grade when he said he wanted to try the clarinet we were hesitant but we said okay let's give it a try now read instruments are hard to play but this kiddo who has hearing and vision impairment and motor and hand-eye coordination issues is able to make beautiful music and bring so much joy to our family over the years we've learned not to be surprised when evan defies traditional expectations thank you for my first paid job i was part of the makers program last summer doing a virtual internship for the cambridge community television or cctv i was a concert producer making videos about team life it was a great experience and i wanted a prize for my family that i made for a video that i made and this one here she was really happy she did not do any cooking that's right because his prize was a free pizza dinner when evan was born i was told he would probably have to depend on government benefits his whole life as he would not be able to find a competitively paid job to support himself in fact there was no incentive to work and save because if he had more than two thousand dollars in a bank account he would be disqualified from government assistance expectations were so low thankfully because of the recent passage of the able act this changed and because of youth employment programs like cambridge's mayor's program and organizations like cctv willing to take the chance to employ youth with disabilities evan experienced what most of you in this meeting have experienced getting paid for a hard day's work and having the pleasure of being able to give back by treating someone to dinner or too much too much dinner maybe but yeah um in the year of 2019 i received a summer scam summer's base camp scholarship to the u.s space and rocket center in alabama i had a great time there and i learned a lot about the future of mars which is the right planet um i hope to be the part of the reds mars generation i hope to work in the media directions for um the space industry and taking photos making videos about astronauts rocket launches and landings i hope to be a part of the future and i love it a lot as evan was preparing to enter middle school we were told that he would be placed in a substantially separate program because of the untraditional way he learned while this setting might work for some students we didn't think it was right for evan we agreed evan needed extra help with english and math but we advocated for partial inclusion for him to spend part of his day with neurotypical kids because we wanted him to have the rich content exposure in general education it was because of the variety of topics covered in general education science that evan discovered his love for space and his love for rockets he might not have discovered this passion in a more restrictive setting low expectations can be really limiting and this bias can change the course of a life my advice take the risk with kids with disabilities michelangelo said our greatest danger is not that we aim too high and miss it but that we aim too low and we reach it at the beginning of march of 2020 i was afraid of getting sick because i heard that some people who had um got covered had they gone to the hospital against indiana venturing to breathe my mom told me that we're gonna be extra careful because in some states we weren't sure if people like me will get will be able to get a ventilator if i need a ventilator i should be able to get one just like everyone else that's why i wrote a letter to governor baker informing him with people with ethical disabilities that they are very important as well when co would first hit this was an extremely stressful time for us as the crisis standards of care were being developed in each state we saw that in some states there was clear deprioritization of people with intellectual disabilities thankfully the federal government stepped in and ruled these standards discriminatory forcing these states to revise their standards because of the work of the arc and other advocacy organizations massachusetts standards have also been revised to provide greater protection to people with id while there's still more work to be done our family is so grateful to the leadership of this amazing organization the sad reality though is that bias and discrimination against people with id existed even before covid two-thirds of pregnancies diagnosed prenatally with down syndrome in the us are terminated and in many european countries the statistic is much higher where universal prenatal testing is offered there is tremendous pressure to terminate a pregnancy if a positive result is received for down syndrome in iceland as many as 99 of pregnancies are aborted and they have a stated goal of 100 termination as they want to completely eradicate down syndrome but just because we can screen for genetic abnormalities and remove the presence of a disability should we in our quest for perfection should we decide who gets to live and whose lives are not worth living can we work instead to eradicate bias and discrimination and to welcome those that are differently abled dr brian scottko the director of the down syndrome clinic at mgh conducted a survey in which he asked hundreds of people with down syndrome questions about their lives 96 percent said they were happy with the way they looked and 99 said they were happy with their lives how many of you can say that about yourselves down syndrome has existed for all millennia and we will never be able to get rid of it nor do i think it's in our best interest to do so because disability is a natural part of the human condition perhaps down syndrome is a gift to humanity i believe evan was given to our family for a reason because of him i've received gifts of compassion patience and creativity and these are certainly things our world needs more of yes i have a great life in my life is definitely worth living to conclude my presentation i would like to share you a video of what i made for my class enjoy me do this thing [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] ah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] ah [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] that concluded thank you for all of your help and for all that you do for me and my family i appreciate it okay buddy let me figure out how to stop this screen share now yep that's all thank you evan and julie that was so amazing that was awesome that video was incredible you are so talented from my family to and all of our families we thank you for all your hard work and determination and dedication to disability advocacy and empowering the disability community as we've already mentioned today's theme is equity in the face of uncertainty moving forward together our community has faced enormous challenges this past year due to covet 19 and we're grateful for the leadership of the legislature and the administration during this difficult time to quickly respond to many of our needs we also want to look ahead to how we can move forward together to best serve all members of our community equitably for instance the arc has an action alert to the governor and other state officials urging that all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities including autism be immediately prioritized for the covid19 vaccine and to make reasonable accommodations when necessary to ensure people with disabilities and their caregivers who accompany them to vaccination sites have safe and equal access to the vaccine this is so important for our families after this event we encourage you to reach out to your legislators and share your stories with them maura sullivan the arts director of government affairs will review the critical budget and legislative priorities as well as how to best advocate to your legislator particularly during a pandemic and if you can reach out to your legislator or would like to promote the arks action alerts share it on social media and tag the ark make a tick tock so we can all share it as well the mddc's legislative priorities will be available in april the more people that know about the great work your legislators do the better now this is a great time because it's time to recognize the arc legislator of the year senator michael rodriguez we're very excited we're excited we're excited to have senate president karen spilka be with us for part of the presentation she's a good friend of the arc in the mddc prior to her election as president senator spilka served as the chair of senate ways and means she was named the first senate chair of the joint committee on children families and persons with disabilities when she entered the senate in 2005 after serving four years in the house of representatives senator spilga has been a consistent and great leader on disability issues and received the legislator of the year award twice in 2007 and 2013. after senator spelker speaks the arc's executive director leo sarkissian will say a few words regarding senator rodriguez so here we are senator spilko hi i'm senate president karen s bilker i want to offer a big thanks to the leadership teams of the massachusetts developmental disabilities council and the arc of massachusetts this is an incredible event every year that highlights and raises awareness around an issue that is deeply personal to me as many of you know my sister susie lived with down syndrome though she is no longer with us her spirit and her lessons that she taught me about what it means to live a fully productive life are very much alive in the work that i do every single day in the senate the same dedication is true for my friend and colleague senator michael rodricks who understands deeply the value of inclusive access to opportunities for individuals with disabilities so i am thrilled and honored to present this year's legislator of the year award to my friend and colleague senator michael rondricks it is no coincidence that he is receiving this award at a reception where equity in the face of uncertainty is the theme from the outset of this pandemic senator rodricks has been a responsible steward of our state finances ensuring adequate and equitable supports were included in this year's budget for those who need it the most while keeping a close eye on the economic challenges brought on by covid19 senator rodricks used his voice to advocate for expanded access to the state's inclusive concurrent enrollment initiative the measure passed the senate unanimously in july and would codify the initiative and enabled students with intellectual disabilities autism spectrum disorders or other developmental disabilities to participate in higher education coursework and other programs these are opportunities well-deserved and the entire commonwealth would be all the more stronger for it senator rodricks has also been my partner in advancing funding for critical mental health initiatives now needed more than ever for all of us so for all of these reasons and more i want to thank senator rodricks for staying undeterred in his efforts and for raising his voice on behalf of families and individuals living with disabilities across our commonwealth and to the council and arc of massachusetts thank you for your partnership in helping us all move forward together thank you for inviting me to speak and congratulations to seth peter roderick's and to all of the awardees thank you and to everyone stay healthy and be safe awesome thank you senator president spilka and you've been such a friend and leader to us for decades we appreciate you so much and of course i'm pleased to be able to say a few words before senator rodrik's accept his award i also want to say shout out to rep cutler and for the mvdc award in his work and i also want to just thank you and the audience we have a great turnout today both in this zoom session and on facebook so thank you for coming out out there and lauren what can i say thanks for joining us again being part of this wonderful event with the mddc and the arc so our presentation by the way senator is by mary galgae who is a person with a disability who attends the gateway arts program hosted by vinfin and it's an internationally claimed studio arts center and people with disabilities do some unbelievable work as you recently commented on so we're thrilled about being able to share that with you i just also want to say a few words about you what a friend you've been both in the house and in the senate um your leadership during this covet crisis you know senator spelker said it well big time there were times when we thought we were going to go over the edge in terms of the safety net and you were there for us and i also want to comment just on your consistency around family support turning 22 adult omnibus autism omnibus and other supports adult services at the department of vulnerable services and mass health um you've been there for people with disabilities and what a what a great day to welcome you as the senator said thank you for being such a champion welcome and uh look forward to hearing you thank you thank you very much uh leo and to you and to maura sullivan and to charlie fisk and the amazing advocacy team uh that the ark and mdc have um you know it's a new world uh here we are in covid i mean um thank you so much for this beautiful painting and as i said earlier uh i can't wait when this is over to welcome you into my office as we normally would meet and discuss the issues that are important to you and you will see this uh this painting hanging in a prominent spot it's absolutely beautiful to senate president spilka thank you for your constant consistent steadfast leadership absolutely through this coveted pandemic crisis but even before always always always every time we talk about any issue it's always through the lens of equity and uh you have been and are just an amazing leader thank you speaker mariano uh to my co-awardee josh cutler uh to all my legislative colleagues that are on this call it's an amazing number i'm not going to stop naming you because i'm sure i'll forget many because there were so many on this call but this is just an example it should be a symbol to everyone else on the call of how important the issues are that you all advocate for um as the senate president said to some of us it is personal and these issues to me are absolutely personal angela did an amazing job opening up uh the uh the program uh and how to advocate for these issues and how to make sure that when you speak to a legislature legislator you express why and just how these issues are personal to you because we want to hear that um i was just talking to my wife uh that for the last 26 years this current sun this next sunday the first sunday in march i would be leading a ski trip up to new hampshire with about 400 people as a fundraiser for special olympics massachusetts we've raised over 70 thousand dollars for special olympics but more so than just raising money is raising awareness we partner with local high schools and they are ski clubs um we have uh special olympic athletes uh at the mountain and on the individual buses and and those of us in the legislature especially in the senate our dear friend who we all love melissa riley who works with senator eldridge melissa uh who stands about four foot two tall and if you see her ski you're not going to see her ski because she's like a bullet twice melissa represented and meddled in in the world special olympics once in seoul south korea and once in nagano japan imagine that and she works in senator eldridge's office and again uh this pandemic that's pretty much shut down the state house i so much miss seeing melissa uh in the hallways or in the chamber senate chamber because she just brightens up your day every time you see her so you know and again a thank you and a shout out to all my colleagues uh tomorrow and to leo uh and and to charlie and to everyone that advocates whether it's nikki's law inclusive concurrent enrollment uh fully inadequately funding uh dds line items and subline items and programs we have been and we will continue to be there for you um and you know uh let me just say to uh to josh cutler and to into leo you look good you guys put ties on i i didn't put a tie on this morning but um keep up the good work uh and uh god bless everybody and thank you so much for this recognition for this painting and again i just can't wait for this pandemic to be over the vaccines are coming also let me give a shout out to secretary sutters um as senate president spilka my first term in the in the state senate i chaired the committee on children and families and persons with disabilities uh and i got to know mary lou as an advocate at that time and we have become very very close friends uh thank you mary lou for all you're doing throughout this pandemic it's not easy everyone's got a better idea uh everyone thinks they they can do it better there's no playbook for this you're doing a great job leading the commonwealth uh through this crisis and and i really really appreciate it and um so thank you everyone and god bless and um here we go thanks thank you so much i agree with you senator rodriguez about melissa i miss seeing her too she's amazing so congratulations again to senator rodriguez that was great and now it's um a time to award our second legislator of the year representative josh cutler we're pleased to have speaker of the house ronald mariano up with us this year representative mariano received the ark's legislator of the year award in 2016 in recognition of his support of the disability community and after many years in leadership roles in the house of representatives he was elected by his peers as speaker of the house in january speaker mariano will introduce representative culture cutler and after speaker mariano speaks mddc's angela ortiz will say a few words regarding representative cutler now let's hear from speaker mariano hi i'm aron mariano i'm wanted to be here today virtually on the 43rd annual legislative reception i want to thank the massachusetts developmental disabilities council in the arc of massachusetts for continuing to host this annual event in normal times i would be presenting the legislator of the year award in person at the status but covet 19 has made us re-imagine the way we do these events it also shed light on the importance of our collective work and advocacy although gains have been made due to the incredible work of folks and families like yourselves we continue to work hard to help ensure individuals with disabilities are given opportunities to lead healthy and fulfilling lives that's why we get together to recognize march as developmental and intellectual disabilities awareness month as vice chairman of the joint committee on children families and persons with disabilities representative josh cutler worked tirelessly to promote opportunities for persons with disabilities and remove barriers for employment i especially want to congratulate him on the passage of the pans bill which created a council on the disease and requires insurance companies to pay for treatment he made sure the rights of people with disabilities are front and center in order to protect them representative cutler brought that lens an intentional focus to every major bill that came through the floor including transportation and police reform i am confident that chairman cutler will bring the same dedication to the his new role as chair of the committee on labor and workforce development he will remain a strong and informed voice for the disability community in all matters that come through the committee issues such as removing barriers to employment and discrimination at the workforce the workplace on behalf of the mass developmental disabilities council i am honored to present the legislator of the year award to representative josh cutler we thank you for your service to your district and to the commonwealth and congratulate you on this deserved award thank you so much speaker mariano uh we appreciate your leadership and commitment to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families so another um on behalf of the massachusetts developmental disability council it is my honor to introduce a 2021 legislator of the year awardee representative josh cutler of the sixth plymouth district uh representing towns of pembroke duxbury and hansen in recognition of his many contributions uh rep cutler was presented with a painting by juvenile nicodemus who is also she's a member of this community and is an artist with the gateway arts program representative cutler is certainly no stranger to the disability community he served as the chair on the workability legislative subcommittee bringing together key stakeholders to gather inputs that would lead to removing barriers and promoting disability hiring practices in the commonwealth representative cutler was recently named chair on the joint committee uh on labor and workforce development he continues to be a tireless voice on beacon hill on behalf of people with disabilities and their families he was a the clear choice for the council's legislator of the year congratulations rep cutler uh for this well-deserved honor great thank you so much angela i very much appreciate those kind words uh thank you to everyone at the mddc uh angela dan and kristen for all the great work that you do i know we relied on you so much uh last term when we were doing our work and uh moving forward uh just so so appreciative of everything that you do for the idd community and for the for the commonwealth so thank you um i want to thank speaker mariano um uh it's funny i when i was just a younger man just out of college i first met representative mariano and was so impressed with him then the time that he took to to mentor young people and the active role that he played and i so delighted that now so many years forward i don't want to age him but so many years forward he's now our speaker so delighted uh to work with him uh somehow i ended up with the gray hair and he looks great but so so what um but uh uh it's uh tremendous and really pleased to have uh speaker mariano leading the house we have a great team here um you know the award i guess the award is for me but this is really a team sport i'm a big believer in that and i want to thank all my colleagues i know a number of folks are watching here especially my colleagues in the house i just wanted to mention a couple folks have been really helpful to our to our work together um first off chair michael witz has been such a staunch supporter of everything um if all of our work with the workability commission and helping idd folks we're really grateful to have him along with uh chairwoman garlic representative k khan who is so kind to me and helpful as we worked on these issues last term as as a chair i also want to welcome our new house chair mike finn um so we really have a great team in the house and i'm just a a small player in this and happy to work with our great team to advance these causes i wanted to give a shout out to a great former house member senator rodricks who's a great partner over in the senate i want to congratulate you on your great work and your award so that was very which richly deserved uh and i have to echo um uh i i miss seeing melissa as well even though she's in the senate i often see melissa and i hear from her on facebook on a regular basis and uh but i do miss seeing her around the building um i want to mention the arc you know how important um i can tell you just my i can still remember my first term going to a local event at uh my local senior center that was put on by our regional arc and that had an impact on me and really something that stuck with me all these years and is one of the reasons why i you know wanted to to get more involved in these issues so you know the work that you are doing uh the mddc and the arc and other stakeholders the work that you're doing is very important and don't forget for an instant that it has an impact on us as legislators as well and these are things that you know we carry with us because of the work that you are doing uh i hope that evan can teach me some clarinet lessons because he was fantastic i don't have any a whole lot of musical ability but he certainly does and that was a great presentation uh thank you lauren uh as mc uh evan that was fantastic uh and and uh the the the the uh background here cause some people ask me is the painting ad that i received uh by um i believe it's called untitled it's on acrylic on canvas by mary gallagher uh according to the back and uh it's really proud to have this and uh look at can't look forward to when i can hang it up in my office and actually see it in person uh but for now it'll have to be my background but so i'm very appreciative of that um and just wanted to say you know in closing you know we did a lot of work we had a great group our workability subcommittee last term i know some of our members are here with us today looking at issues specifically around employment and hiring practices and how we can remove barriers to employment um you know and i was heartened to hear you know from talking and from our um our work in in talking to businesses and to the extent to which many of them understand that hiring people with disabilities is not just the right thing to do it makes business sense it's a smart thing to do and i think that's the message that we need to make sure we spread and evangelize to the entire commonwealth and that's why i'm so you know really delighted and pleased that the speaker has appointed me along with my house colleagues to to chair the labor and workforce development committee uh it's it's a perfect kind of segue into what we were doing last term to continue on our work with workforce development for people with disabilities um i'm really looking forward to continuing the work in that role and we're always going to have an open ear and open access on these issues in my role and i'm just really delighted to be here and thank you all for the the kind words much too kind and for all the great work that you're doing look forward to continuing that work together so thank you thank you representative cutler that is a rock and zoom background i think you should just keep it it's really awesome and senator rodriguez for all the work that you've done for the disability community i know it just makes me sleep better at night knowing that you guys are out there and that all the adverse advocacy is welcomed by you guys congratulations again really really wonderful work and now mara sullivan will join us and share the virtual call to action mar is the director of government affairs and operation house call for the arc she leads the arks advocacy efforts at the state house she's always around the state house and the pandemic has not stopped maura and her team's work maura has a special passion for advocating for equity and access to health care as well as family supports for people with disabilities and she is the proud mother of three including two teenagers on the autism spectrum i gotta tell you thank you so much for inviting me today i'm honored every year to be part of this remarkable community thank you for putting up with my computer glitch in the beginning i apologize i'm gonna blame brian bell our producer but i'm just it's i hope you have a great and productive day today with your legislators and so here you go maura good morning and thank you so much lauren i love having you as our go-to mc every year and you're just like family so what an incredible event today to be a part of um before i jump into the call to action i just wanted to acknowledge what we've all been going through this year and acknowledge especially those who have suffered and those who have lost folks we we have certainly proven our courage and strength even to ourselves this year did we ever think we could survive this kind of crisis but we are and we know that we have the strength not only to rebound but to move the needle on equity for idd so i'm going to share my screen and share a memory uh let's see you see that hold on it's being slow yikes like joke come on you don't have time from the beginning let's go all right well i'm going to leave it at that because it's not showing the zoom slideshow hold on yep so slideshow issues here guys there we go all right here we go all right so the call to action this year is actually so much more critical than ever any of us ever would have imagined last year when we crammed into the great hall of flags with our biggest numbers ever and this was just a week before the shutdown this year we need to fight for equity and we need to pull ourselves up and out of this crisis we start by making sure each and every one of us is safe from the virus which means vaccine eligibility prioritization accessibility and continued testing as well as working with our hospitals to ensure appropriate supports during times of illness and it means addressing our state budget so families families take care of 70 of people with disabilities let's get them the funding and the flexibility they need to use it they have been doing it all 24 7 with incredible resilience but indeed exhaustion let's also open up our day program safely and allow them to prepare for greater numbers as people become vaccinated and return in increasing capacity funding needs to allow for the adaptions of our day programs because of what we've learned through covid19 and we can't go back to normal lives without secure transportation the need for more community-based services and employment opportunities and there will be no transformation without that transportation so please bring these issues to your legislators now they are meeting with their leadership now ask them to make our priorities their priorities our ask is 15 million over house one for day and work programs seven million dollars for transportation and seven million more in family support and respite with three million of that going directly to families with no red tape um and now none of these line items will be effective without our workforce so we must continue to push for better rates for dsps the future of our loved ones is dependent on a stronger workforce so follow our workforce campaign this year and lastly get behind our bill priorities for this session there are 18 transformative pieces of legislation there's training for the medical community sponsored by rep garberly and senator lewis there's expansion of nikki's law dana's law sponsored by senator moore today is actually the anniversary of the signing of that bill talk to your legislators about these priorities and these bills that are most important to you legislators please co-sponsor get ready to write your testimony because you know i'll be bugging you with requests but seriously we promise to give you the tools that you need to do this kind of difficult advocacy you have our fact sheets you have our bill platform you have our links to the take action alerts stay connected to us and the mddc and make those important connections to your lawmakers so how do you start well first a tip from our wonderful chair denise garlick is to make sure each and every person in your household is registered to vote because your legislators know if you're a voting constituent and take advantage of this time when meetings with your rep and senators and their staff is actually pretty convenient make relationships with your legislator a two-way street where can they use your help where do you align outside of disability supports and how can you engage your own family and fri nds to educate your senators and reps about the need to fight for our community there's power in numbers and they truly do have to fight there are so many priorities in front of this legislative body to the reps and senators we know that you and your leadership have a big job to secure funding for our community but that's okay because our job our community has a much bigger job we have to change the world and equity is an uphill battle all the way so you do your job and we'll do our job and we'll get there together so i want to say thank you to ellen taverna and the arc team to the mddc team for making today happen it's an honor to work with all of you thanks to leo and dan and angela and lauren and to our wonderful keynote evan and julie and of course to our champions the honorable legislators of the year rep cutler and senator rodricks and to all the legislators and attendees may everybody stay safe and well and one last thank you to this huge group of sponsors for today so it's not my share remember uh to reach out do your next steps and reach out to us with any questions thank you for coming to the 43rd annual legislative reception i'm just gonna like as the mc i'm saying i think that's a wrap right that's a wrap thank you everybody all right this is what we do in the biz now go call everybody and talk to them and advocate thank you thank you lauren thank you everyone carlos stuart is our spanish translator and our asl interpreters by the way yes thank you thank you lauren for getting us moving let's start and say hi to david and your lovely daughter too i will i will hello to everyone too all right we'll see you next year okay bye thank you