We have a lot of exciting public policy news to report relating to initiatives not only here in Massachusetts, but on the federal and even the international stage. 

As you will read below, following in the wake of the passage of the

historic Prenatal Down Syndrome Testing Bill, we received more good news from the Mass. State House this week. For the first time in our 29-year-history, we will be the recipient of critical state funds to support our essential programs, including our signature Parent's First Call program. 

And yet, despite these recent victories on the state level, we are not ready to rest on our laurels. With just two weeks in the Mass. Legislature's session before recessing for the summer, we are pushing hard for (and need your help with) the "Real Lives Bill", a major piece of legislation that is on our platform. 

On a national level, the MDSC is working diligently to pass the signature bill on our national platform, the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act. Read below about our efforts to reach out to both major parties on this legislation.  

Finally, the MDSC is stepping out well beyond our state borders in asking the U.S. to ratify an international treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The CRPD is similar to the ADA and has been ratified by 114 other countries. 

I hope you enjoy reading about all these exciting public policy initiatives. 

See this "Chronicle" segment about what self-determination means in practice for one individual and how he is fighting at the State House to make sure others have the same opportunities he does.

With just two weeks in the Mass. Legislature's session before recessing for the summer, a major piece of legislation on our platform still has a chance to pass. But we need your help! 

The Real Lives Bill will do exactly what it's title hints at -- It will help improve the real lives of real people with disabilities in very real ways. After decades of no cost of living increases for services and cost pressures on service providers, individuals with disabilities and family caregivers have been left without the critical supports they need to function successfully in their daily lives.

In tough times like this, under the state's existing service delivery model, consumer choice has suffered greatly, even though lack of choice is antithetical to the self-determination movement. Given the importance of housing and employment in the lives of people with disabilities, it is essential, especially in tough times, that we implement the necessary safeguards so that some level of consumer choice remains in tact. 

The Real Lives Bill, sponsored by Rep. Tom Sannicandro, will do just that, changing the way developmental services are financed and delivered for the tens of thousands of people with disabilities in the Commonwealth who receive state services. Under Real Lives, which you can see here in its entirety, individuals will be able to determine how to spend their allocated dollars on the services and supports they need, not the ones dictated to them by the state. 

Take Action here, through our partner The Arc of Massachusetts, to ask your representative and senator to sign a letter of support to the House Speaker and Senate President urging passage.You can see the list of legislators already signed on here, and a Real Lives Bill Fact Sheet here. Please take this quick action to help make the Real Lives Bill a real law.  

In this segment, "Chronicle" looks at some of the work of the MDSC, which will now be funded in part by the state.

Your phone calls and emails in support of including funding for MDSC programs in the state budget have paid off! 

We learned early this week that despite many ups and downs on the way to Governor Patrick's desk, we overcame the final hurdle when that line-item was NOT among those vetoed by the Governor. This means that for the first time in the MDSC's 29-year-history, we will be the recipient of critical state funds to support our essential programs, including our signature Parent's First Call program.

We want to thank again those of you and those in the State House who helped overcome numerous obstacles to make this come to fruition: This includes Senate and House Conference Committee members, in particular Senate Chairman Stephen Brewer and Vice Chair Jennifer Flanagan, Senate President Therese Murray, Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, House Ways & Means Chair Brian Dempsey, Sen. Katherine Clark and State Rep. Tom Sannicandro.