Bill to help NJ residents with disabilities during disasters stalls in state Senate

Gene Myers, NorthJersey.com

Last year, advocates in New Jersey pushed for a new unit designed to assist residents with disabilities during disasters, an outgrowth of the early months of the COVID health crisis when the community felt abandoned. Legislation to create the unit passed the state Assembly unanimously in June. But it's bogged down in the state Senate, and its' chances of reaching Gov. Phil Murphy's desk may be running out.

The Senate version of the bill, S285, calls for the creation of four positions to focus on disability issues within the state Office of Emergency Management. Advocates say it needs to be voted on by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Thursday in order to come up for a vote in the full Senate on Monday, the final day of the chamber's lame-duck session.

But the bill has a lot of competition: "Hundreds of bills, if not thousands” are jockeying for lawmakers' attention over the next week, said one of its chief sponsors, Senate Assistant Majority Leader Linda Greenstein, a Democrat representing Mercer and Middlesex counties.

Christopher Mille, 37, of Neptune and his mother Carole listen as a speaker gives a speech during the event to commemorate people with disabilities who died from COVID and asking leaders to make changes, outside of NJ State House Annex In Trenton, Monday on 09/19/22.
Christopher Mille, 37, of Neptune and his mother Carole listen as a speaker gives a speech during the event to commemorate people with disabilities who died from COVID and asking leaders to make changes, outside of NJ State House Annex In Trenton, Monday on 09/19/22.

Javier Robles, a Rutgers University professor and organizer of the New Jersey Disability Action Committee said he was "trying to remain calm and patient, but the situation is incredibly frustrating."

Missteps during COVID, Sandy

From Superstorm Sandy to COVID-19, plans made by people who didn’t understand the disability community or its needs put some of the state’s most vulnerable residents in jeopardy time and time again, according to a scathing report issued by the DAC in 2020.

During the pandemic, the state failed to provide enough protective equipment in group homes and nursing facilities, and it didn't prioritize vulnerable populations for vaccines, the report said. The committee also faulted New Jersey for failing to implement widespread COVID testing in care facilities and for not providing transparent masks in settings where people with hearing loss lived.

Two hundred and thirty-three people with disabilities who were enrolled in the state's Division of Developmental Disabilities programs died of complications from COVID 19, according to state records. About one in four New Jersey adults have disabilities, according to the CDC, and many struggled during the pandemic to access food and find transportation as programs shut down during quarantines, according to the report.

As a result, people with disabilities, their advocates and institutions like Robles' Center for Disability Sports, Health and Wellness at Rutgers University; the New Jersey Statewide Independent Living Council; and the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities came together as the DAC to call for change.

Bill would put advocates inside state disaster agency

Greenstein's legislation would put in place one of the report’s proposed solutions: It would create four positions within the state Office of Emergency Management to be held by people with disabilities The group would take part in emergency planning for the state; one position would represent the disability community in each of the state’s regions − North, South, Central, while a supervisor would oversee the unit.

“The state estimated the cost of these four individuals in the Office of Emergency Management to work on these issues at $1 million, which in the state budget is like five cents,” said Robles, who urged his fellow disability advocates to email Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Chair Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen, Passaic.)

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"I am asking you all to stop what you are doing and call Sen. Sarlo's office immediately. This may be our last chance to get Bill number S285 done," Robles told his colleagues in an email this week. "It is currently sitting in the Budget Appropriations committee that is controlled by Sen. Sarlo. If he does not release the bill by this Thursday, it cannot get voted on the last session, which is Monday."

Sarlo did not respond to requests for comment from The Record and NorthJersey.com

Why has the bill stalled?

Greenstein, who co-sponsored the bill with state Sen. Nellie Pou (D-Bergen, Passaic) said she has asked to have it scheduled “a couple of times” and that “it could still happen.”

"I did push for it and for whatever reason, it just hasn't made it to the list," Greenstein said Wednesday. "I don't think it's necessarily resistance as much as just people having so many other priorities."

As far as the estimated cost of the bill, Greenstein added, “A million doesn't sound like much. But depending on the circumstances, it can be. It just seems like in the last year or so, we really did have a lot more money to play with and right now they're beginning to tighten belts again."

Gene Myers covers disability and mental health for NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: myers@northjersey.com

Twitter: @myersgene

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bill to help NJ residents with disabilities during disasters stalls

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