504 Democratic Club: Questionnaires (Candidate for State Assembly Grace Meng's response)

Candidate Name: Grace Meng

Campaign Manager: Corey Bearak, Senior Adviser

Phone: 718-321-1311

Fax: 718-321-1322

Campaign Address: 136-18 39th Avenue, Flushing, N.Y. 11354

Contact Person: Corey Bearak

Phone: 718-321-1311

Fax: 718-321-1322

Email: ElectGracemMeng@yahoo.com

Website: GraceMeng.com

Assembly District: 22

Please describe any experience with disability you have had in your life or career.

ANSWER: I have often worked with PWDs.

I have been a recent advocate for the disabled - my main projects were trying to get our local train station to be handicapped-accessible and also asking the Governor for the first ever increase in funding for disabled CUNY students in 12 years. My focus on subway and railroad station accessibility also includes connections from one mode to the other. My primary focus in this regard in the Flushing LIRR. In addition, the connection from the subway to LIRR at Woodside and at Willets Point.
Is your campaign headquarters accessible to persons with disabilities? If you are an incumbent, is your district office accessible to persons with disabilities? If you are in private practice, is your office accessible to persons with disabilities? If not, what have you done to ensure access?

ANSWER: My HQ is fully accessible, including bathroom facilities.
How will you incorporate people with disabilities into your campaign?

ANSWER: My campaign already includes and is working with PWDs in my campaign and on my issues. I have been meeting with a group of PWDs and advocates/ advisers to help develop issues to address.

Even as an assembly staffer I've have been involved in addressing the needs of PWDs. (See Answer #1 above)
Are you willing to hire and use flex-time and job-sharing if necessary?

ANSWER: Yes.
Seventy (70%) percent of people with disabilities of working age are unemployed at any given time, no matter how well or poorly the economy is doing. How will you use your office to advance employment opportunities for people with disabilities?

ANSWER: I would use my relations with business and labor to create workshops, seminars and job fairs targeting these employment opportunities. Education is important and employers need to understand a capable and responsible workforce is there to hire.
What will you do to reverse the negative impact of recent decisions in Federal Courts which are undercutting the powers of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 to protect the civil rights of people with disabilities in New York State? How would you change the laws of New York State to protect the rights of its citizens with disabilities?

ANSWER: I commit to support legislation to codify further protection for PWDs consistent with the intent of the original ADA, including reforms in the enforcement capabilities of the Division of Human Rights.
Currently, over 130,000 people reside in nursing homes and other care facilities in New York State. In 1999, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) found in L.C. v Olmstead that individuals with disabilities have a right to live in the most integrated setting. What will you do to encourage Olmstead implementation in New York?

ANSWER: Affordable housing must include supportive/ special needs housing components. The federal money provided to comply with this decision as well as the existing funds that fund the nursing home and other placements should resource appropriate community placements, which also prove most cost-effective. The role of legislators is to oversee allocations and operations to insure the shift in placements.
We are in the midst of a housing crisis. Accessible, affordable housing is in short supply. People with disabilities are being priced out of the market. What would you do to develop a housing policy that would lead to the development and maintenance of accessible, affordable and integrated housing stock?

ANSWER: I favor a holistic approach. That is why I support rent control and rent stabilization and repeal of the Urstadt law.

I support an ambitious affordable housing program that provides sufficient affordable units and also special needs housing.

Housing represents a significant investment in the local economies. In addition to the construction jobs, any population influx attracts retail investment - already a major strength in Flushing, which further stabilizes communities and provides jobs within the neighborhood. This strengthens the overall economy.

Flushing's real estate boom leaves out too many. New apartment buildings springing up offer little for long-time residents. I will work to must ensure a Flushing that moves forward for all segments of the community and address the needs of special needs populations and accessibility.
Timothy's Law was designed to end health insurance discrimination by enacting parity in coverage for people with biologically-based psychiatric disabilities. To address cost concerns raised by small businesses, the agreement directs the state Superintendent of Insurance to develop a methodology that would hold businesses with 50 or fewer employees harmless from any increase in insurance premiums that result from this measure. It also requires the state Insurance Department and the Office of Mental Health to conduct a two year study to determine the effectiveness and impact of mental health parity legislation in New York and other states. What would you do to help small business?

ANSWER: A focus on excessive prescription drug costs would help. NYS needs to work with its counties and the City of New York to reform costs that abuse the Medicaid program to re-direct resources to serve non-needy populations. Homecare needs to be encouraged as an alternative to long-term institutional care which stresses the middle class. There needs to be a look at tapping into Medicare to pay appropriate costs of the elderly (see below). We must look at reasonable reforms which hold excessive costs to hospitals and nursing homes down. In addition to the need to press New York State to assume all local Medicaid costs, the existing New York formula requires counties to pay 10% of long term care costs and 25% of most other Medicaid costs. State and federal funds pay the entire cost for some former OMH and OMRDD residents. These reforms can help further resource and strengthen Family (and Child) Health Plus which should enroll more non-insured working families.

The cost of prescription drugs drives the cost of health care and most of the increase statewide in Medicaid, 500% since 1995 ($840 million in 1995 rising above $4 billion last year - reflecting both rising costs and number of recipients). When the state also relies on the EPIC program to reduce prescription drug costs to seniors - and for its own employees, it makes sense to create preferred drug lists - "formularies." This will allow the state to negotiate deeper discounts and rebates with drug companies that want their product on the list; this can also prod greater use of less expensive generic drugs (In contrast to most private plans Medicaid allows brand names when generics suffice. The state can also explore re-importation of drugs from Canada, increasing bulk purchases and sharing the drugs and discounts among Medicaid, EPIC and other state programs. In December 2004, the bipartisan National Governors Association proposed that Medicare pick up 100% of the cost of Medicaid for long-term care on dual-eligible individuals. The federal Medicare program covers people over 65 regardless of income. According to the governors association, 42% of current Medicaid costs go towards care for Medicare beneficiaries who comprise a small percentage of the Medicaid case load. Medicare fully insures these individuals. Medicaid currently accounts for 50 percent of all long-term care dollars and finances the care for 70 percent of all people in nursing homes.
Under Kendra's Law, a state-funded Medicaid grants program has been established to provide medications for eligible individuals with a psychiatric disability upon release or discharge from institutions. This will help eliminate some of the problems associated with the Medicaid coverage gap. Do you support Medicaid Presumptive Eligibility legislation which would eliminate the standard 45 days without coverage, and thus without access to treatment?

ANSWER: Yes
By passing the Help America Vote Act of 2002 the U.S. Congress has tried to ensure that people with disabilities will, by 2006, be able to cast an independent, private ballot for the first time. What will you do to ensure successful implementation HAVA?

ANSWER: In general, New York City polling places I am familiar with have access. I note the locations and where access ever would prove a problem, alternative locations will be found. As to the broader access issue, I would exert legislative oversight and urge the Attorney General to bring proceedings to compel any counties out of compliance to comply.
Disabled children in grades K-12 are entitled to receive a "free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment," but there have been major problems. Most often, schools are not physically accessible and not accommodating their students' needs. What do you propose to correct this problem?

ANSWER: As with electoral access, the Department of Education must improve access to existing building and look at elevator installation where none exist. When "mainstreaming" is an important goal, accessible buildings remain key. The school construction and repair budget must provide for this.
Despite Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, students with disabilities face problems when pursuing higher education. These statutes do not specify how students should request accommodations or assistance in asserting their rights under the law. Will you support a fully funded office of disability services on each SUNY and CUNY campus to assist students with disabilities in securing accommodations?

ANSWER: Yes
What is your position on expanding DRIE (Disabled Rent Increase Exemption) to be the same as SCRIE (Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption) to low-income, eligible persons with disabilities under the age of 62 on the same basis and income level (currently the SCRIE's income cap is $25,000, while DRIE's is $17,000)?

ANSWER: No reason other than some obscure budget calculation existed to not provide disable tenants on low incomes that same benefits afforded seniors under SCRIE. I advocate the extension of the full SCRIE benefit to disabled persons similarly on fixed incomes. Disabled tenants face never ending rent increases without commensurate increases in their own income. I support this proposal and look forward to bill-signing ceremonies in Albany and at City Hall to extend full SCRIE-like benefits to disabled tenants. And the benefits once increased should be automatically increased with inflation on an annual basis.
Do you support the extension of Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) to low-income persons with disabilities regardless of age? What would you do to ensure this?

ANSWER: Yes. I would introduce and sponsor the necessary legislation and follow up its implementation.
What would you do to expand accessible transportation options for people with disabilities in NYS?

ANSWER: Access A Ride must be improved. This includes legislation vetoed by Governor Pataki that would allow the vehicles to cross city line to Western Nassau and southern Westchester. New technology including GIS allows better monitoring of these vehicles and must be installed and used. Better oversight, including by the MTA is needed. I would use legislative oversight as frequently as necessary and would look at requirements to report on timeliness and strandings.

I also am committed to improving and extending access at LIRR and subway stations lacking access. The Flushing LIRR is my particular crusade.

go to top of page