Candidate Name: Wellington Sharpe
Campaign Manager: Asquit Reid
Phone: 1-718-287-6098
Fax: 1-718-287-0225
Campaign Name: Friends of Wellington Sharpe 2006
Campaign Address: 1057 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11238
Contact Person: Asquit Reid
Phone: 1-347-680-5020
Email: areid6east@aol.com
Assembly District: 58
Please describe any experience with disability you have had in your life or career.
As a child care provider, I had years of experience working with children with disabilities.
Is your campaign headquarters accessible to persons with disabilities? If you are an incumbent, is your district office accessible to persons with disabilities?
Yes, my daycare center is accessible to persons with disabilities.
How will you incorporate people with disabilities into your campaign?
People with disabilities will be assigned to respective tasks due to their levels of functionalities.
Are you willing to hire and use flex-time and job-sharing if necessary?
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?
I will introduce legislation that mandate corporation that receive public funding to set aside a percentage of jobs for indivudals with disabilities.
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?
I will introduce bills to strengthen the 1990 ADA, and will work closely with our New York Congressional representive to protect the ADA.
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?
Mandate that all new buildings have access for individual with disabilities. Additionally, I will over time bring older buildings up to that standard.
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?
Give tax incentives to builders of new housing to set aside housing units for people with disabilities. Monitor present housing to make sure there is no hording.
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?
In addition to holding these small businesses harmless, I will give additional incentives for hiring individuals with disabilities.
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?
It is critical for an individual to have full access to their required medication at all time. Therefore I will support The Medicaid Presumptive Eligibility legislation.
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?
As a reformist, I will introduce bills to mandate that the State fully implements this Act. I belive there should be no ELECTION when a large percentage of our citizens are not given the option to participate.
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?
I believe we need to make this a top priority. The necessary steps must be taken to retrofit these schools to meet the needs all students.
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?
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)?
Quite often ones disabilities restrict you just as old age. Therefore, DRIE and SCRIE should be given equal treatment.
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?
Yes, I support EPIC and will introduce or support any such bills to mandate same.
What would you do to expand accessible transportation options for people with disabilities in NYS?
Expand the Access-A-Ride services, and give incentives to individuals or cooperation providing quality services.