House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020 Regular Session

Posted:	December 2, 2019 05:12 PM
From:	Representative Dan L. Miller
To:	All House members
Subject:	Updates to Act 139 of 1994 – the Independent Living Services Act

In 1994, the PA General Assembly created the Independent Living Services Act, which in turn created State Independent Living Centers. While this landmark achievement gave many atypical residents the ability and mechanisms to thrive independently, it has now been over *twenty five* (25) years since this Act became law. It is time to update and modernize this groundbreaking Act to reflect and be in line with changes that were made on the Federal level. To that end, I will soon be introducing legislation that will make necessary updates and changes to Act 139 of 1994 that will modernize its language to be in lockstep with the Federal Workforce Investment Opportunity Act (WIOA). These changes include updated guidance on Pennsylvania Statewide Independent Living Council (PA SILC) board composition, the role of the DSE with PA SILC and CILs, addition of the 5th core services for CILS of transition (youth, institutional settings), federally funded CILs already are required to do this service per WIOA) and a new base level for funding of ($350,000). The updated funding standards reflect that Pennsylvania's disability population has more than doubled, additional governmental requirements and inadequate funding levels. Updates to Act 139 of 1994 are critical to ensure we are properly serving the estimate 2 million residents of our Commonwealth with disabilities. I hope you will join me in co-sponsoring this critical piece of legislation.
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Introduced as HB2139