Candidate Name: Jonathan Bing
Candidate for Assembly District: 73 (Manhattan)
Contact Person: Keith Powers
Campaign Address: 132 East 43rd Street, #243, New York, NY 10017
Phone: (212) 628-2464
Fax: (646) 349-4793
Email: Campaign@JonathanBing.com
Website: www.JonathanBing.com
Endorsements:
Political:
Community: All local elected officials and party leaders.
Labor:
If there is a Campaign office(s), is it wheelchair accessible?
Yes.
How have you incorporated people with disabilities into your campaign?
People with disabilities will be active in the campaign and I would be proud to highlight the endorsement of this organization should I receive it.
If you are an incumbent,
Is your present office/work place accessible to people with disabilities? If not, what have you done to rectify the inaccessibility?
My District Office is accessible to people with disabilities, including elevator access and a restroom that is wheelchair accessible.
What oversight have you performed regarding implementation of programs/legislation passed previously?
I served as the Chair of the Assembly Legislative Task Force for People with Disabilities from June 2009 to March 2010, where I performed oversight on housing for people with disabilities and reviewed website accessibility for State agencies in New York.
What personal and professional experience have you had with people with disabilities in your personal life and in the workplace?
I first became interested in disability issues when I wrote a law journal article in 1996 in opposition to capital punishment for the mentally retarded. The person whom I first hired in my political career in 2002 was Micah Kellner, a person with a disability who has gone on to serve in the Assembly in his own right. I have been active in disability issues in the Assembly prior to and during my tenure as Disabilities Task Force chair.
What type of jobs would you be willing to hire and to provide reasonable accommodation (e.g. flex or part time) for staff members with disabilities?
I would be willing to consider a person with a disability for any job in my office, and currently provide a staff member with a part-time opportunity.
While in public office and/or prior to this campaign, what have you accomplished in regard to advancing disability rights? This can include work towards accessible housing, transportation, employment, health care, education, and including people with disabilities in the political process?
During my tenure in the Assembly, I have introduced a number of bills aimed at improving the lives of people with disabilities. I have been proud to author legislation (A. 7179) that would expand and simplify the Disabled Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) program in New York City. I have also introduced legislation to prohibit housing discrimination based on source of income (A. 10689, Passed Assembly), to incorporate provisions of Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act into New York State law (A. 9757, Passed Assembly), to require disabilities training emergency responders (A. 10454), and to require publishers of educational materials to provide electronic copies (A. 10118, Passed Assembly).
Will you commit to only attend and/or sponsor events that are accessible to people with disabilities including providing written materials in alternate formats, providing assistive listening systems, and sign language interpreters, as well as ensuring that locations are accessible to people who use mobility aids, like wheelchairs and walkers?
Yes.
Do you pledge to use your office to affirm or strengthen, rather than weaken, civil rights protections to persons with disabilities?
Yes.
How do you propose your active involvement/availability to the disability community?
Will there be a specific person in your office responsible to this community?
Yes.
Will have regular office agenda meetings on these issues?
Yes.
What would you do to have direct contact with our community?
My office is always available for meetings on important community or legislative issues, and I am available to discuss these issues in public forums. I have been in regular communication with the disability community on issues important to it such as DRIE and budget matters.
How will you work closely with the disability community to assure passage of vitally needed legislation? What will be your strategy?
To date, I have worked closely with the disabilities community to pass much-needed legislation, including three bills in 2010 referenced in response to question number 6. I will maintain my policy of closely working with the disability community to ensure that its voice is heard.
How would you change the laws of New York State to protect the rights of its citizens with disabilities?
I have introduced a number of bills, including those mentioned in response to question 6, which would protect the rights of people with disabilities.
While the State is focused on reducing the costs of Medicaid and other programs, persons with disabilities need to continue to have access to the services and supports they need and choose.
Would you oppose proposals which would negatively affect eligibility, benefits, coverage, and/or access to services for Medicaid beneficiaries and eliminate the systemic bias that leads to unwanted placement in nursing homes and other institutions?
Yes. I have actively opposed the governor's proposal to cap certain personal care service hours at no more than twelve hours a day because it would force some people into unwanted, more expensive institutional settings. I have also opposed the efforts to alter the Early Intervention Program by decreasing Medicaid rates for home-based visits, and to require pre-authorization for outpatient physical and occupational therapy services.
Would you seek to promote comprehensive long term care reform that will not reduce coverage or access to services?
Yes.
Would you increase rental/housing subsidies to participants in the new Nursing Facility Transition and Diversion Medicaid waiver program?
Yes.
Would you expand Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage program (EPIC) to provide the same level of eligibility and coverage to persons with disabilities under age 65?
Yes.
Will you support moving funds from nursing homes to moving patients out of nursing homes and back into the community?
Yes.
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. Do you support the creation of a housing trust fund for persons with disabilities?
Yes.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires housing developers to set aside a certain percentage of accessible units for persons with disabilities when federal funds are used for construction. Do you favor incorporating these provisions into State law so that the Department of Housing and Community Renewal can be empowered to enforce these provisions?
Yes, I authored legislation to incorporate Section 504 into State law and the bill passed the Assembly in 2010.
Visitability sets guidelines to ensure newly constructed multi-family dwellings have basic accessible/adaptable features to permit people with disabilities can visit, and for residents to "age in place,"
without having to move out when age and/or disability set in. Do you support incorporating the concept of "visitability"
in the New York State Building Code?
Yes.
At present: SCRIE (Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption) Household income cap is $29,000. DRIE (Disabled Rent Increase Exemption) is $19,284/single and $27,780/2 or more. What is your position on increasing DRIE income eligibility to match SCRIE?
I have authored legislation that would allow more people to participate in DRIE and bring the income levels up to match SCRIE, and I am working to have the bill passed this year.
While localities have acquired voting machines that attempt to meet the accessibility standards of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), many poling places in New York State remain inaccessible to persons with disabilities. Do you favor the elimination of provisions in Section 4-104 (1-a) of the New York State Election Law allowing waiver of polling place accessibility standards?
Yes, we must improve standards to better allow people with disabilities to vote.
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.
How do you propose dealing with school districts that deny civil rights to disabled students even after the Sate Division of Civil Rights affirms the student's rights such as to use a service animal?
School districts must be required to comply with the law to allow children with disabilities to get the education that they deserve.
Do you support legislation requiring car services, and shuttle services to purchase wheelchair accessible vehicles or otherwise ensure that they have the capacity to serve persons with disabilities?
Yes.
Will you or do you support Assembly Member Kellner's proposed bill requiring New York City to transition to a 100% accessible taxi fleet?
Yes.
Persons with disabilities have historically been under-represented within the Democratic Party leadership. According to the 2000 census, persons with disabilities comprised 20.6% of New York State residents and 23.1% of those 18 years and older. Previously, we were told that only those groups included in the Voting Rights Act were included in the goals and timetables for delegate selection. Yet the lesbian and gay communities were included for the first time at the 2000 convention and again at the 2004 and 2010 conventions. Would you support a campaign to set a goal that 10% of the total New York State Delegation to the 2012 Democratic National Convention be comprised of persons with disabilities.
Yes.