DISABILITY RIGHTS EDUCATION & DEFENSE, INC.

- Joined a letter jointly led by the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD) and the Disability and Aging Coalition (DAC) to the the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), asking for fed guidance and rulemaking on HR1's "community engagement" requirements that will broadly protect people with disabilities, aging consumers, and their caregivers from being dropped unnecessarily from Medicaid

- Joined an open letter White House led by the Democracy Defenders' Fund with 3700 signatories, condemning President Trump's assault on civil society - Joined a letter led by the National Coalition on Accessible Voting (NCAV) to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, opposing a petition submitted by the America First Legal Foundation to amend the federal voter registration form to require additional documentation to prove citizenship when registering to vote or cast a ballot - Co-lead a coalition letter coalition letter to the federal Department of Energy asking that it withdraw a set of "direct final rules" that rescinds longstanding, major protections under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX)

- Joined letter led by the National Women's Law Center, the Legal Defense Fund, and the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights to numerous college and university presidents and trustees, urging them to follow the law and not participate in the current federal administration's Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education - Joined comments led by the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities sent to the US Department of Education that it rescind a proposal to eliminate key state information and data collection requirements on significant disproportionality under IDEA Sec. 618 and the Equity in IDEA regulations - Joined letter to the Senate HELP Committee leadership asking them to hold the administration accountable for their Reductions in Force of Dept of Education staff and programs that support disabled students and people of all ages - Joined letter led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR) letter to the US Dept. of Education opposing cuts to education data collection - Joined coalition letter to the House Education & Workforce Committee asking them to hold an oversight hearing regarding the administrations efforts to dismantle the Dept of Education - Submitted comments to the Dept. of Education (DOE) opposing the DOE's proposal to remove Significant Disproportionality data collection from Section V of the Annual State Application under Part B of the IDEA

- Joined a coalition letter on the National Fair Housing Act which asks Senate leaders to maintain funding for the nations critically important fair housing programs, including the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) to sustain existing local fair housing organizations - Signed a letter led by the National Low Income Housing Coalition which would restore FEMAs status as an independent agency, which will in turn increase its efficiency and made its assistance more available for people facing homelessness (supporting Fixing Emergency Management for Americans Act of 2025 (H.R.4669))

- Joined letter led by the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities' (CCD) Health Task Force to Senate leadership supporting S.5018/H.R. 6860, the Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients' Act, which would require employer-sponsored private insurance to cover dialysis treatment for End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) - Joined letter led by CCD to congressional leaders calling for the reauthorization of the advanced premium tax credits (APTCs) for marketplace health insurance - Joined a coalition letter to all members of Congress opposing efforts to restrict access to gender affirming care - Joined coalition letter spearheaded by the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) to congress urging that it pass a clean bill extending Enhanced Premium Tax Credits for the marketplace exchanges, without including an abortion-related rider with the funding bill - Joined a coalition letter led by the Coalition to Preserve Rehabilitation to Senate leaders in support of S. 2898, the Dennis John Benigno Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Program Reauthorization Act of 2025 which would reauthorize funding for an established TBI program

- Joined an advocate coalition letter in support of S.1686, the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act which is bipartisan legislation that would make the flow of disaster recovery funds faster, more equitable, and more accountable to taxpayers

- Joined letter led by the National Employment Law Project letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) opposing DOL's vague Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would require states to provide DOL with sensitive data that their unemployment insurance agencies collect

- joined a letter to Congress spearheaded by the Census Project asking for sufficient appropriations for the 2030 census test and advocating against a provision in the House Appropriations Bill that would restrict the Census Bureau from using funds to appropriately conduct non-response follow-up such as more than 2 reminders to provide voluntary survey info - submitted comments to the US Elections Commission in opposition to the America First Legal Foundation petition to amend the federal voter registration form to require additional documentation to prove citizenship when registering to vote or casting a ballot

- Joined coalition letter led by the Electronic Privacy Information Center to the Department of Homeland Security's Privacy Office opposing ICE's use of facial recognition technology by field officers - Joined coalition letter led by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) demanding withdrawal of the a new proposed rulemaking that would revise the public charge ground of inadmissibility regulations/policies - Joined a coalition letter led by the Center for Public Representation (CPR) to DHS opposing it proposed rulemaking that would rescind the 2022 rule governing determinations of whether an individual may be denied admission to the United States or an adjustment to their immigration status on grounds that they are likely to become a public charge under the Immigration and Nationality Act - Joined a coalition letter led by the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD) to DHS strongly opposing DHS's proposed rule that would revise and widen the public charge ground for denying admission to and individual to the United States or an adjustment to the immigration status of an individual who is already in the country - Submitted comments to US Citizen and Immigration Services on behalf of DREDF and 17 other CA-based organizations opposing proposed changes to the federal Form N-648 which is the medical exemption form used by immigrants seeking to naturalize who cannot, based on disability, complete the English and/or civics requirements

- DREDF joined two letters led by the Transit Advocacy Network to Congressional leaders (Rep Graves and Rep Larsen) for supporting continued federal funding for public transportation despite threats from the current administration - DREDF led a coalition letter to the on the letter to House Energy & Commerce and Senate Commerce Committee leadership, asking them to consider the safety and accessibility of Automated Vehicles (AVs) s in any stand-alone AV bill or surface transportation reauthorization bills

- Joined letter led by the Coalition to Preserve Rehabilitation (CPR) to the Secretary of Veteran Affairs to support continued funding of accreditation and veteran survey programs in the VA

- Joined a coalition letter to Congressional leaders opposing the inclusion of an AI moratorium on state legislation regulating AI development and use into the National Defense Authorization Act

- Joined a letter led by Advocates for Trans Equality to Congress, opposing S. 2907/H.R. 5483 which proposes a law that criminalizes healthcare providers, parents, and others when gender-affirming care is provided to Trans and Gender-Diverse adolescents