4/9/26 - New Budget Time In The US

Greetings!

Other events are overshadowing it, to say the least, but it's actually the start of federal budget time here in the US. Today's links are three takes on the Trump administration's proposed budget, and how it would affect people with disabilities.

Trump Budget Calls For Eliminating Key Disability Programs

Michelle Diament, Disability Scoop - April 7, 2026

"'It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things,' Trump said last week before releasing the budget. 'They can do it on a state basis. You can’t do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing: military protection. We have to guard the country.'"

The proposed increase in funding for Centers for Independent Living is interesting to me, having come from management of a CIL myself. But the motives and plans for that increase seem to have little or no relation to what Centers for Independent Living actually need or want to do. I will say one thing for Trump. It's less possible than ever for anyone, including Americans with disabilities and their families, to say they don't understand what he and his administration think about disability programs and services. He couldn't be more clear. And while this proposed budget constitutes a grave threat to our well-being and independence, it shouldn't be a shock to any of us.

ANCOR Issues Statement on President’s FY 2027 Budget

Sean Luechtefeld, ANCOR - April 3, 2026

"Community-based services are uniquely vulnerable to Medicaid funding reductions because, unlike mandatory benefits, they are not guaranteed under federal law. History shows us that when states confront budget shortfalls, programs like the Medicaid HCBS program are among the first to be scaled back. That troubling pattern is already emerging in states that are proactively cutting HCBS funding now in anticipation of new federal funding restrictions in Medicaid as the 2025 budget reconciliation law is implemented."

States, most of them anyway, aren't going to save us, or our ability to keep living in the community and avoiding the nursing home.

Hold off on Celebrating Trump’s Proposal to Increase Disability Education Funding

Julia Métraux, Mother Jones - April 4, 2026

"The budget recommends removing funding specifically designated for parent information centers, which help equip parents with information and resources they need to advocate for their kids with disabilities, as well as technical assistance for schools. This funding would instead come out of each state’s IDEA budget. Multiple experts I spoke with expressed concerns that this will lead to these parent programs not getting the funding they need."

If MAGA Republicans truly believe that their movement is the embodiment of grassroots liberation for "ordinary" Americans, than they should love programs like the parent information centers, which help families pressure their local schools and service providers to do a better job for their disabled kids. But of course what these centers also do is pressure government to actually pay for the services and supports they have always promised to provide. And while MAGA likes to cultivate a kind of rebellious vibe, at its core it is authoritarian. The last thing they want the government to fund with taxpayer dollars is individual empowerment and advocacy skills for taxpayers – definitely including parents of children with disabilities, and disabled people ourselves.

Disability Thinking Weekday is a Monday-Friday newsletter with links and commentary on disability-related articles and other content. You can help promote Disability Thinking Weekday by forwarding it by email or posting on your social media. You can also comment by sending me an email at: apulrang@icloud.com. Collected comments are shared on the first of each month. A free subscription sends a newsletter to your email each weekday. Benefits of paid subscription include:

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