LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION memorializing the United States Congress to
endorse and support the passage of H.R. 1670, the Community Choice Act
of 2009 (CCA)

WHEREAS, According to the most recent United States decennial census,
there were fifty-four million disabled Americans; and
WHEREAS, According to the most recent United States decennial census,
there are three and one half million New Yorkers over the age of five
with a disability at a rate of nineteen percent of the State's popu-
lation, a higher proportion than the national rate of sixteen percent;
and
WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court ruled in its 1999 decision in
the Olmstead case that people with disabilities have the civil right
under Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act to receive any
state funded long-term care services in the most integrated setting
appropriate to their needs; and
WHEREAS, The vast majority of America's fifty-four million people with
disabilities, including seniors with disabilities, want to live inde-
pendently and with dignity, free from the restrictions of institutional
settings; and
WHEREAS, Disabilities are a natural part of human experience that do
not diminish an individual's right to live independently and to enjoy
self-determination and full inclusion in American society; and
WHEREAS, The average yearly cost of residing in a nursing home is
higher than the average yearly cost of providing community home-based
attendant services, and in-home and community-based services have
consistently proven to be less costly than institutional care; and
WHEREAS, The Community Choice Act of 2009 (CCA) would expand the range
of services available to persons with disabilities of all ages and give
them a greater ability to choose services; and
WHEREAS, The New York Legislature was one of the first State legisla-
tures to enact laws to establish community home-based attendant
services, and many States still do not have viable alternatives to nurs-
ing or institutional care for persons with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, Adoption of CCA would help to ensure that community home-
based attendant services programs are truly responsive to the needs of
persons with disabilities, especially those residing in rural areas
where choice of services is currently more limited; and
WHEREAS, Under CCA, an individual who is currently eligible for nurs-
ing facility services or intermediate care facility services for people
with developmental disabilities may apply the funding received through
these programs to purchase qualified community home-based attendant
services and thereby receive care in the most integrated and least
restrictive setting possible; and
WHEREAS, The CCA would enable people with disabilities and the elderly
real options to live in the community and create the infrastructure
needed to develop the high-quality, community based long-term care of
the future; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Congress of the United States be and hereby is
respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to endorse and
support the passage of H.R. 1670, the Community Choice Act of 2009
(CCA); and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the President of the Senate of the United States, the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, and to each member of the Congress of
the United States from the State of New York.