Help People with Disabilities Live Independently!
Congress is reconciling the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriation requests from the House and Senate. Funding for Independent Living has been recommended at these levels:
- Senate appropriation – $127 million
- House of Representatives appropriation – $140 million
We are asking the Senate and House Appropriation Committees to support the House number of $140 million.
- Call your Senators and Representative: Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 (voice) or (202) 224-3091 (TTY). Ask to be connected to your Senators or Representative.
- You can find your Senators’ phone numbers and websites at senate.gov and your Representative’s phone number and website at house.gov/representatives. If you don’t know who your Representative is, you can find out at house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative.
- You can use Resistbot to turn texts into faxes, mail, or hand-delivered letters by texting “RESIST” to 50409.
Sample Script (please feel free to personalize):
Hi, my name is [YOUR FULL NAME], and I’m from [CITY, STATE].
I am [calling / writing] to urge Congress to reaffirm its commitment to 61 million disabled Americans by increasing funding for the Independent Living Program and accepting the House of Representative’s appropriations request of $140 million dollars in the Departments of Labor, Health, and Human Services, And Education, And Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2023. We are asking for the $140 million because there is an increasing need for services from Centers for Independent Living, which are cross-disability, non-residential, community-based, nonprofit organizations run by and for people with all types of disabilities.
Centers for Independent Living help people live independently in their communities by providing a variety of services, including helping people to get out of nursing homes!
I hope you will support your disabled constituents and accept the higher number requested by the House of Representatives of $140 million for the Independent Living Program for FY 2023.
Thank you for your time.
[Your name]
Tips:
- You can add a personal story about what your CIL does or how your CIL has helped you!
- If leaving a voicemail or emailing, please leave your full street address and zip code. This will ensure your call or email is tallied.
- Read the IL Appropriations Background Sheet and view NCIL’s original request (https://bit.ly/3RZgo2J).