PA State Representative Dan Miller: Discusses Legislative Accomplishments on Behalf of Those with Disabilities and Upcoming 2025 Disability Mental Health Summit

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guests, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone, welcome to the show today. First, you know, I have to thank all of my great listeners. 2 weeks ago, yes, we had our 1,000th episode. How about that? 1,000th. And of course, this wouldn't be possible without you, all of you great listeners, and around the world from Australia to Germany to Saudi Arabia. You know, remember what you've heard me say this so many times, even if there's only one of you. That one can make a difference. Spread the news, go to other venues, media venues, but you can make a difference. Then I have to say hi to Richard Roberts in Brazil with the State Department and Gang Young Cho in South Korea. With the State Department and all my other friends across Asia. I send my best greetings, warmest greetings to all of you. And to Yoshiko Dart, the wife of the late, great Justin Dart, a special shout out to you, Yoshiko. Lead on, Yoshiko. Lead on. I know if I would be there, you are saying that back. To this show. I know it, and you know we love you. So, as you know, Bender Consulting Services, I founded 30 years ago. Can you believe it? 30 years ago. And we are a for-profit company that focuses on the competitive employment of people with disabilities. So, Joyce Bender: I want to point out, I know a lot of you are going through a difficult time, but you know, we have a lot of positions in healthcare, STEM area. And if you are one of those people in need of employment, go to benderconsult.com today, or if you know of someone, because we're looking for so many people in healthcare, from nurses to people that work in the sterile area. Then we have so many openings in the STEM area and product management. But I just want to say to you, whatever you do, keep moving. Keep moving. Do not stop moving and keep communicating. You know, the success is always around the corner, but you cannot give up. You can't give up. Success in finding a job stops when you stop. So, don't stop. Don't stop. Everyone should be talking to each other during this very difficult time that we are all experiencing, because that way we're strong, we're united. So, I just wanted to mention that to you. JoyceBenderConsult.com. Get in touch with us today. And speaking of a disability rights leader, I have to tell you, I love our guest. Love him, love him, love him, love him. With the House of Representatives, State of Pennsylvania, not going up for reelection, and I'll tell you why in a little bit. I have been friends with Representative Dan Miller for quite a while, and he has been there for me, been there for you, for people with disabilities. So for all of you, you know, in Pennsylvania, southwestern Pennsylvania, know this: many people run for positions, but they don't even see us. That's the worst part. It's not being against us. It's not even seeing us, but he does. You'll see. You'll see when I talk about this. And I want you to tell everyone about my friend, the great Dan Miller. Welcome to the show, Dan.

Hi, Joyce Bender. Thanks for having me. It's so good to see you. And I appreciate such a kind-hearted introduction there. But it is always good to be with you and appreciate your leadership decades long. In this arena as well. You really are the icon to which many of us strive to emulate in any way. So thank you very much for having me on, and it's always great to talk with you.

Well, always great to have you with me also, Dan. But since we have people around the world and, you know, they'll get back in touch with this and they'll say, wow, that person was great, tell me something about them. So I ask our guests always at the beginning, you know, to talk about their background. What's your background? Wow. I mean, I read a lot about it. I know, you know, you started right here in Pittsburgh, but let's hear your story. I know you were a teacher at one point, so how did you get to where you are now?

Well, you know, it's all a matter too of where you want to start any story, right? So you have to be careful with how far back we go. But, you know, just a couple of notes on the personal side. I'm not from Pittsburgh. It's my adoptive home. So I've been very blessed to be here now roughly 23 years with my wife and my son who's graduating this year from high school. So we're very proud of him. But before that time, I'm actually from the Connecticut-New York border. So I grew up about an hour and 10 minutes or so north of the city. My parents were immigrants to this country. My mother was from London and my father Sicily. And so they met, obviously, and had 2 kids. I spent most of my time growing up in that area. So the sort of New York metro market there, that's made me a Yankee fan growing up. And when people still say I'm going to the city, I still in my head think, oh, you're going to New York. But they, of course, mean Pittsburgh. So, so I grew up out there. I did. Go to school to become a teacher. But public service was always a big thing for my family. My grandmother, who brought my mom over and all of her kids, made a big deal about saying, look, we're new to this country, we're blessed to be here, and it's important for us to find a way to give back and to chart our own American story in that process. And so I enlisted in the Army National Guard and spent a year in AmeriCorps and 14 years as a firefighter here in my hometown of Mount Lebanon now, which is all partially because of what my grandmother told me to do, which is to find a way to be of service. But my wife and I met in AmeriCorps. We were down in D.C. and spent a year there doing a bunch of projects anywhere from building homes with Habitat for Humanity to disaster relief with the American Red Cross, D.C. public school system work. All those types of things. And instead of me going back to teaching, because I had started teaching history in high school, I ended up deciding to go to law school at a Catholic university in DC while my wife pursued a master's degree at GW. She worked up on the Hill during this time. I studied law the best I could do, and that eventually led us to Pittsburgh. Where my wife continues to work as a steelworker. She's been there the entire time. And I started here after passing the bar, going as a public defender, county solicitor, special education law, and for the last 11 years or so with the House of Representatives. So in a nutshell, that is the path to which has brought me here today. So it has been an interesting one, one that I've been lucky enough to have some help along the way and had the ability to fail at a couple of things and still be able to dust up. And kind of get back up and get ready to go.

Well, Dan, I'm going to pretend you're— you are a Pittsburgher. Okay. I don't care where you were born. You are a Pittsburgher. You're honorary Pittsburgher. I appreciate that. Knighting you as an honorary Pittsburgher. Wow. What a story. Where did you say your father came from? Sicily.

Sicily. So yeah, he still lives over there now, but he's on the eastern coast of Sicily in a town called Taormina.

Wow, I didn't know you were part Italian.

Yeah, my father would respectfully correct you. He would say that no, no, no, we're not Italian, we're Sicilian. But, but that's, that's up to him. But yes, no, my father said Sicily, and I was the first one on both sides of the family born here.

How about that? That is amazing. Well, and it— you can see that public service and giving back was really ingrained into you. But now you're running for Common Pleas Judge. I am so excited about that. I cannot think of anyone running for that role right now that would be better than you, you know, because I think we have to say we want a judge that is fair. Yet firm, and, you know, integrity, and, you know, willing to see beyond labels and stigma, which is frequently, as you know, what people with disabilities go through. So first, for our listeners, what is a Common Pleas Judge? How is that unique?

Well, thank you. Yeah, so in Pennsylvania, on our state system, you're going to have sort of 3 levels of, of court action. The lowest, of course, is a magisterial level, but those are not judges in the sense those are district judges. But judges in this sense have to be attorneys who come through the Bar Association, obviously get a license. And then I was highly recommended through the Bar Association, which I appreciate for the office. But the common pleas is the lowest level, the first trial level of the court system. Then we have multiple appellate courts above that. So Common Pleas, most people are kind of familiar with it because it's where you're going to find the majority of criminal actions, family court action, orphans, and civil are where, you know, I think some people may find some familiarity with. But for most people, Common Pleas, they associate with a victim or being charged with a crime or in family, could be dependency, could be delinquency with a juvenile. Could be an issue of divorce and custody. Those are probably the main points of entry into the common pleas system, and that's what I think most people would be coming about. So the judge in that regard sits to hear those matters in, in, in that sort of subject area.

Well, how do you feel about that, thinking that you're going to be making really life decisions?

Well, you know, look, it's, um, you know, I was up public defender and a county solicitor for, uh, 11 years or so, and I was in court 3 or 4 days a week, making— basically every week, making thousands of court appearances. I've seen, um, the very good and the not so good that comes from these, um, uh, experiences. Um, there's no doubt that a lot of people's best, uh, intentions and wishes are kind of put into them, uh, but we struggle in so many aspects, especially on the criminal side. But You and I share obviously a passion for disability and some mental health issues. The challenge for us in this arena is that so much of the cases that I had as a PD and as a county solicitor, they all had disability and mental health issues brought into it. So it was disability, mental health, substance use, and then typically based on the work I did, a horrendous amount of generational poverty that kind of linked all that together. And that was the majority of the clients or cases that I worked on. So these issues are coming through our court system for a variety of reasons, one of them being the failure of our public health system to be fully accessible for everybody, but for a variety of reasons. And I believe that we can do better in recognizing what challenges those bring to a court completion, a case completion, and what our expectations should be on trying, not trying how to keep the wheel going, but how to break the wheel. Wheel and how to make sure that people don't come back to court and we're more successful in the broader concept. So that's what I'm hoping to see. But yeah, it's a lot. There's no doubt it's a lot.

Where will this election be? For people listening that want to vote for you here in Pennsylvania, what all does this cover in Pennsylvania?

Yeah. Well, and we're talking Allegheny County for this one, right? So Pittsburgh and the surrounding area, 1.2 roughly 3 million people. There are 8 spots, 8 spots that are currently open out here. So I'm one of 22 seeking the Democratic primary nod. I'm also one of 6 who are on the Republican nod. Judges in Pennsylvania are meant to be nonpartisan in that perspective. So everybody in Allegheny County who is a registered voter gets to vote. In these elections. The first step is on May 20th. So 22 will get whittled down to 8 on the Democratic side. Those candidates then will seek election through the general election in November. But first things first, if you don't get through May, then there is no November for you. And that's what I'm trying to do. So my hope is that I can talk to enough people and express enough of the ability and viewpoints that I think people might relate to and then hopefully get one of their 8 I don't need, you know, it's okay, I don't need 2, I'm not asking for 3, just 1 of the 8 votes. If we can get that, then I'll consider myself very blessed and hopefully on the way to victory on May 20th.

Well, um, okay, so if you're listening and you're in Allegheny County, you know, we all want someone that recognizes what people with disabilities go through in the courts, whether it's a learning disability, a mental health disability, epilepsy, which I have, uh, frequent are made. You know, that's why you have this school-to-prison pipeline. And we need someone like Dan. So if you have a disability or not, it doesn't matter, you need to vote for Dan. So I will publicly endorse him. This is who my support goes to. And Dan, do you have a webpage?

Yes, yes we do. And thank you for your support and endorsement there. I do appreciate that. VoteDanMiller.com tells you everything you need to know about my history, endorsements, uh, uh, and how you also can be, uh, helpful on the campaign too.

Okay, and if they go to DanMiller.com, can they make a donation there?

Well, VoteDanMiller.com, yes. I, I can't, um, judicially, um, uh, how ethics work, I cannot solicit or ask people to do donations, um, But the website offers a variety of ways that people can be involved with the campaign. And so I'd encourage everybody to check it out, votemiller.com.

Votemiller.com. Okay. And we'll repeat that again in a little bit. But right now we're going to go to break. Hey, if you just joined us, we're talking to Representative Dan Miller, House of Representatives in the state of Pennsylvania, who is will be running for Common Please judge, and I know you're gonna vote for him. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. Don't go away, we'll be right back with Dan.

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Here's Joyce Bender. Hi everyone, this is Joyce Bender with Disability Matters. Welcome back. We're talking to Representative Dan Miller, House of Representatives in the state of Pennsylvania, who will not be running for reelection because he will be running for Common Pleas Judge May 9th— no, May 20th.

May 20th.

May 20th. Okay, so May 20th. Now I do have a question. Is it possible to vote ahead of time, a mail ballot?

Yeah, yeah. And I believe Joyce Bender said people are already receiving vote-by-mail applications. So in Allegheny County, they tend to do a pretty good job compared to some counties, let's say, with getting that information out to people readily. But we were expecting it maybe a couple of days ago. But from what I understand now, it is definitely in motion. People are getting them today. And so that means that within probably 36 hours, 48 hours, the first votes by mail will be received back to the county. So the election is actually already underway.

What about that? Okay, now I have a question. Uh, I, I've heard this from especially older people before. If they don't understand how to vote or how that works, is there someplace they can call?

Well, um, to be honest, there's always a— there's always places you can call to get information on, on voting. But if somebody has a question regarding their individual process, how they wish to vote what vote by mail means, they should call the county, right? So the county election office is the best place for nonpartisan, unbiased information that can help you understand the process that's available to you no matter where you might be. In Pennsylvania, there is, you know, we do have 67 counties. So, you know, it would be good to get that sort of direct information from the county election offices. If you're looking for more information on candidates or parties, that tend to be, of course, more through the partisan route. The election offices are not the ones to ask for that. They— I could tell you that overwhelmingly they do not care who you vote for. They only care in the election offices that you have— that you're able to vote in the way that you want to vote. So call the county election offices for process issues, and I know they would be able to help you out.

That's great. That's great. Dan, what about your platforms? What, what are some of the— your platforms like? Why should people vote for you?

Thank you. For most of my time as a legislator and how you and I met, I've been prioritizing disability and mental health issues. My legislative history over the last 11 years falls into generally 4 buckets: disability, mental health, juvenile justice, and then labor rights. Generally where 95% of my attention has fallen as a legislator. The disability and mental health arena, to which unites you and I in particular. That came out of a couple of things. First, as a former certified teacher, I did spend some time obviously getting the basics of special education under my wing a bit. But as a public defender in particular, I was finding that again, the majority of my clients were bringing some version of these issues to the table and sometimes all the issues to the table. Um, and I was able to see at that point how the intersection of public health and, uh, in that regard, criminality, uh, the criminal courts, um, uh, were failing many scenarios. So, um, a lot of what I try to talk about is understanding, uh, that intersection, um, and whether you're in criminal or in family court, uh, dealing with young or old disability, mental health issues are seldom will go away, right? So, um, what— let me give you an example. What would sometimes come up, uh, in my representation is that we would, um, if, uh, if a young, young person who I was representing would get on probation, the judge would give them a plan, and the judge would be like, here is what you need to do to get off of probation. And in the plan would be something to do with mental health. Okay, but the word that would come up with it would be complete mental health, complete mental health, not comply. And so I would try to argue to the court that those are two immensely different concepts, right? Um, and for many, uh, on the, uh, who have a mental health, uh, challenge of any type, they may never complete therapy. That wouldn't even be the goal. Right? They can comply. Right? And then do their best and make sure that, um, any lack of compliance isn't based on problems within the diagnosis in the first place. So it takes two steps in that regard. First, to understand the difference between, um, completing and complying. And then to understand even when somebody who's on probation may fall short of those goals, you still should be asking the other question, which is if you have somebody with a diagno— with a diagnosed disability of some type. How does that disability, how does that diagnosis impact their ability in completing the court's requirements as set forth? So one of the good things, as you know, under the ADA is that we've made strides in trying to be sure that people aren't held to— in some way penalized for having a disability. The IDEA in schools, if somebody wishes to suspend a child with an IEP, there may be a manifest or should be a manifestation determination hearing to see how that diagnosis impacted the actions to which caused the concern. We need to bring more of that mentality to criminal court, to family court, uh, to better understand those who are there, to be— and to get to a better, um, more just completion of their case.

Yeah, that is awesome. Yeah, I know what you mean. And We have our newsbreak now. Mathis on the mic with Jennifer Mathis. And where would she be from? Baselon Center on Mental Health Law. So, wow, this really all connects to, you know, what you're talking about. Jennifer, welcome.

Hi.

Nice to be here. Jennifer, do you know— did you know Dan?

I did not. It has been a long time since I've been in Pennsylvania.

Well, you know what? He has, which we'll be talking about, a mental health summit every year, and it is amazing and very large because he has really put a stake in the ground when it comes to disability about mental health. And of course, Jennifer is with Bazelon Center on Mental Health Law, which I'm so honored to be on the board of this great national organization. But welcome back. I'm always happy to see you, Dan. I tell everyone, I couldn't get Rachel Maddow, so I got Jennifer. Uh, so Jen, I think first you were going to give us an update on what's going on with 504.

Yeah, so I know nothing very significant has happened between last week and this week. I think the one thing to emphasize emphasize with people is that after the news came out that this was a lawsuit that Texas and 16 other states have brought challenging HHS's new regulation that implements Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which is sort of longstanding, even before the ADA. Federal anti-discrimination law that protects people with disabilities against discrimination, um, in programs and activities that get federal money, and also in programs and activities conducted by the federal government itself. So HHS had done a regulation updating its prior rules, which hadn't been updated for 40 years. So they were a little out of date, and HHS in the last administration did a new rule and, you know, updated some things to reflect the last 40 years and also added some new topics that were of significant interest, and including, for example, the integration mandate. They gave much more detail about the, the obligation to administer services to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting. For example, they gave more detail about discrimination based on disability in medical treatment. They talked about disability discrimination in child welfare systems. They talked about web accessibility. And so, um, these states had challenged this new rule, and in that lawsuit they had also challenged the constitutionality of the law itself. They said Section 504 is unconstitutional and we think that Congress exceeded its power in passing Section 504. So that was a very big deal. And one of the things I explained last week is that on April 10th, 11th, 11th, I think, the states actually sent something to the court saying we are backing off of that claim that the law itself is unconstitutional. We are still pursuing the claim, the challenge to the rule. We're still asking the court to strike down this whole rule that HHS did, but we are not anymore asking the court to strike down Section 504 itself as a law. Um, some of the— there was a lot of communication about that in the community, and I think some of the postings that we saw, I think, misunderstood what happened. I think from the— all the written stuff that went out to everybody explaining what happened I think some people thought, oh, we don't have to worry anymore, you know, Section 504 is safe. And I think it's important just to make sure that people understand that there still is very much this challenge to the 504 rule that HHS did, which is enormous, which covers lots and lots of different important topics like those ones I just mentioned, the integration rule and medical discrimination, web accessibility, child welfare systems and discrimination in those systems against parents with disabilities, against children with disabilities, and just all the basics that were updated in that rule. And so there, there is still very much something to follow, to be concerned about, to monitor, to advocate the people that live in those 17 states that I highlighted last week, and I can try to pull up the list if it's helpful. Again, I don't have it in front of me right now, but last week we talked about the 17 states that were the plaintiffs in this case. And so people in those states that care about this should still very much be talking to their governor and their attorney general to say, please don't do this. This is an attack on basic fundamental rights of people with disabilities, and we ask you to back off of this lawsuit. So I just wanted to highlight that, given that we had been a little bit worried that some people took the message of nothing to worry about anymore, that everything's good, and That's not the case. It's certainly helpful and very important that the states have backed off of saying that the law itself is unconstitutional, but it's still a very big deal that they are challenging this rule.

Yeah. Dan, what do you think about this?

Yeah. Well, you know, look, one of the challenges of running for judge is you're not supposed to be commenting on aspects of a pending suit. But look, I think knowing that 504, I mean, anybody who understands any aspect of special education in its broader concept, you must know of the importance and the significance of it and how The problem comes back when you start to unwind something. Sometimes you don't know what comes with it and sometimes you do. And again, without sort of getting into, you know, anybody's merits or motivations, I would be very concerned about what happens if somebody pulls that 504 out from, from underneath us and whether it is designed intentionally to accomplish A, B, or C, or whether it's unintended consequences of it, it is immensely important. It is done— it really has provided the framework for so much to build off of, and it would really concern me about where we stand legally going forward should any part of it at all be limited.

You know, if you're listening, I just want to tell you that I have sent so many people to the show last week specifically to listen to Jennifer talk about this and explain all of it in detail. And if you don't understand, you know, all these shows are on demand. All you have to do is go to Spotify or really any social media platform, Disability Matters with Joyce Bender on voiceamerica.com, and you can hear the show.. And if you don't understand, you should go listen to that show. Because, Jennifer, I think a lot of people, you know, they don't understand 504. You know, if you went out on the street, hey, what's Section 504? Most people would have no idea. But they will have an idea if it's taken, you know, and their child needs will say speech patho— speech services. They won't be getting it. Absolutely. They will not be getting that. And I did have a question that was given to me for you, Jennifer. As of right now today, if your child is discriminated against, will it still— can they still go somewhere to get it enforced, or has enforcement gone away?

So that's a great question. I would say two things. Well, no, enforcement has not gone away, but, you know, some of the enforcers have changed their work. So these laws, both Section 504 and the ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, I'm not talking about other laws. There's other ones as well— Fair Housing Act, IDEA, all of that. But just focusing on these, um, these two, on 504 and the ADA, those are enforced, um, by— they can be enforced by private individuals, by anybody, by you and me. We can get a lawyer and go to court and assert our rights. They can also be enforced by the federal government. And so, for example, any agency, any federal agency that gives out federal money to entities, they enforce Section 504 with respect to the entities that they, they give money to. And so they enforce Section 504 The Justice Department enforces the ADA. Some of the other agencies also enforce the ADA. So we don't know exactly what the federal government's enforcement is going to look like with this new administration. We know that certainly staffing has been cut very significantly, and in particular, civil rights offices have been cut very significantly. So I think it is fair to anticipate that there will be far less civil rights enforcement of the ADA and Section 504 by the federal government. That doesn't mean nothing is going to be enforced, but it, it suggests that there will be certainly less than, you know, we have had, right? Because there's just a fraction of the staffing that is left in many of these agencies. And most recently, we are seeing that the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division is also impacted and is expected to have a, a much, much, much lower staff than it has. So that enforcement may be impacted. It doesn't mean it's grinding to a halt, but it may mean that they take action on fewer matters, fewer complaints that are filed with them. Or that it takes longer, but people still have the right to enforce these laws themselves. Sometimes, you know, it's hard to get a lawyer, but there is, of course, the protection and advocacy system which exists across the country. Every state and territory has a protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities. And you can call the Protection and Advocacy system, which often will provide help, legal help, in enforcing Section 504 and the ADA. So, that enforcement is not going to change.

Hopefully, we will— NDRN will still be there as time goes on.

Yes.

I want you to hear, Jennifer— Dan, would you share with our listeners what the Dan Miller Mental Health Summit is, how that started, and how large this has become.

Sure, sure. Thank you. And it is, it kind of has grown over the years. It is our Disability and Mental Health Summit. It's our 12th year in doing it. It actually is coming up on May 8th and May 9th here in Pittsburgh. We've all, the roots of it came across really was an experience I had at a similar event years ago, obviously, to which was fantastic, but was located and in a place that I felt made it difficult for many families to be able to afford to go. And so those great resources and discussions that were there and available were not as open as I would have liked it to have been. And so when I got elected to the State House, In essence, I was like, I think we can create this, right? Let's recreate it back home, keep it free so everybody can walk in the door. So we've ebbed and flowed a bit over the years. Our largest was in 2000 where we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the ADA, um, here in Pittsburgh. Uh, we had 2,400 people there, um, massive event. Last year we had 1,300 people. Continues to kind of go up and down depending on a couple factors. Uh, this year we were at a new location, the CCAC, which is a Community College on the north side, and our doors will open about 8:30 that day. We have programming through 4 o'clock. It is typically a bipartisan, bicameral event with many elected officials there who care about these issues and the largest disability and mental health resource fair in western PA. So I think we'll have 140 organizations on May 8th., who will be in the general resource fair, another 15 or so in the assistive technology component, uh, so somewhere around 150, 160 organizations present on May 8th. And then some other factors that will be there on May 9th where we kind of shift the focus towards kids in particular. So, but you could find information on this event at disabilitysummit.com. So May 8th and May 9th, disabilitysummit.com. 12th anniversary of our event. And love to also have Joyce Bender. You've been a fantastic proponent and part of the event many times. So thank you for mentioning it again.

Oh yeah, it is so awesome. And Governor Shapiro endorsed you for Common Please Judge. He was there. He was there last year. I remember talking to him. He was at the event.

You know, very, very honored to have his support for Judge, and he's been a great partner. He was our keynote speaker last year. This year will be focusing on Medicaid. But the governor's been tremendous, and I do have to give him a little shout out as well for him and Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis. Not only does he support me on the political side, but recently I was with him. You may have caught that his— the governor's mansion was the site of a an arson, and rather severe, a lot of damage. But I bring that up because as a retired firefighter, I can't tell you how proud I was to see my governor spend time with each firefighter who was there on the call, thanking them personally, connecting with them, and letting each firefighter know how much he and his family really appreciated their quick response to the scene. And not just fire, police were there as well, but I caught the firefighting part. And Governor Shapiro's a tremendous leader. I know cares about disability and mental health. So I'm very honored to have his support for Judge.

Yes, yes. And Jennifer, I think you will agree that we need to keep sending the message out about mental health because there is such a stigma and really lack of knowledge across the board. I'm wondering if someone wanted to go get more information, Can they go to the Bazelon Center website?

You can. I think there's a lot of great information on our website. It's bazelon.org, and Bazelon is B-A-Z-E-L-O-N dot org. And our focus is very much a civil rights focus, a focus of ensuring that people with mental health disabilities have equal opportunities in all walks of life. in employment and housing and education and community living and all of the things— and voting, all the things that are important. And I think we very much think about mental health within the disability space. You know, often it is separated out. And I think that, um, the stigma tends to be worse when people think of it as something entirely different from disability. And so we always think about it as, you know, part and parcel of disability. People with mental health disabilities are part of the disability community, just like people with other disabilities.

Mm-hmm. Right. How about Medicaid? What are you thinking about that in Pennsylvania, Dan? Do you think Governor Shapiro and the state will be able to stand firm on that? Not cutting it.

Yeah. Well, by the way, I love Jennifer's point that she just raised as well. And when we did the Disability and Mental Health Summit, there was a discussion about the word choice here. And somebody's like, why don't you do two separate events? And we're like, no, no, no. Let's try to bring everybody together. Look, Medicaid scares me. The conversation around Medicaid scares me. So in Harrisburg, we are trying to keep a watchful eye and trying to make sense out of what we hear from D.C. Look, there is no ability for the state to backfill Medicaid. That's not really possible, right? So the amount of, I think the number I heard was about 3.1 million Pennsylvanians have some service or connection to a Medicaid-funded program one way or the other. So that's about a quarter of us, and that's not going to go down. So we have major concerns with it. Look, I keep hearing people say, well, look, no dollar's been cut, no dollar's been cut. And look, Medicaid services are so essential, whether it be for in the disability context, relating to kids, whether it be nursing homes, whichever, 3.1 million people directly doesn't reference the amount of people whose family has a connection to a Medicaid recipient or the services that are provided. We are still dealing with the reality that there are promises to be kept. Medicaid is, is not as yet doing everything that I think it was intended. And there are still too many people on waiting lists. There are still too many job vacancies. There are still too many rates that are too low. For people to stay and work that they love and care to do. But rates aren't high enough. There's a variety of problems that are cascading in the system that predate this administration. And to be honest, that predate the 2016, you know, first administration of the president. But the reality of it is, is our future is with a stronger Medicaid, not a weaker Medicaid. And to pass the buck, to abandon If the federal government abandons any component or any further component of Medicaid to the state, I believe we will have a humanitarian crisis in Pennsylvania.

Oh, I mean, that would be terrible. That would be so terrible. That would really— I'll use just one group— decimate the— just destroy the disability community. I mean, that would be horrifying. So, and Dan, I think that you can confirm that if a voting constituent feels strongly about something and they may think, what can I do? Would you not agree it's a good idea to contact your representative or senator?

You know, I always think that's a good idea, whether you have a big idea or a small idea, no matter what it is. But I will say too, a quick point about Medicaid. Let's also not forget that there's no demographic that's attached to it. Medicaid is serving just as many Democrat as Republican families, right? One of the things I love about my Disability and Mental Health Summit is that I can sit there and have the most liberal and the most conservative at the same table. Nobody cares what yard sign that you display or the hat. Than you care to wear. Okay, not in the disability mental health context. And that's what Medicaid is supposed to be about as well. It's about qualified people in need getting the services and assistance to live with as much independence and opportunity as possible. That's what it's meant to do. The government has made a promise. It's a generational one. It's one that should never be peeled back. To pass it to the state, to dump it to any state is a problem. My push on this regard is that I love, love talking to Republicans about this issue because I have met so many of you that I know have disability and mental health connections and interests. I don't care who you voted for in November, all right? Whichever. You make those choices as you want. What I do believe is that you care about Medicaid and the services that it provides. Maybe we're wrong. Maybe some of the alarm ringing will prove to be Well, wrong. What if we're right? Regardless, I would urge you to have your voice heard. So contact our senators, McCormick and Fetterman, and here in Pennsylvania, contact our congresspeople. Let them know that you care, that it makes a difference, that Medicaid makes a difference in your world, that it's a matter of life-sustaining ability here that needs to be kept, a promise that needs to be kept. Left. So please do contact, especially on the conservative side. Pick up the phone, contact in particular Senator McCormick, Senator Fetterman, sure, and let your voice be heard. If you care about those services, they should be worth the time for you to pick up your phone and make a quick call.

Why I say that is Senator Harkin told me once, people don't realize the power of reaching out to your representative. If you get enough people calling, you're listening. You know what I mean? And that's why you've got to, got to pick up that phone and call or email, whatever it is. Personally, I've been calling because I'm reminding everyone about how they stood behind my work. And so Medicaid cannot be cut. Medicaid cannot be cut. But as Dan said, it could. Therefore, you make those calls now to hopefully prevent that from happening. So Dan, I have a question for you. If someone would say to you, why should I vote for you, what would you say?

Uh, thank you. And, and look, just on the formal side of it, I'm proud of the work that I've done. Being highly recommended by my bar association tells you about the type of quality that they believe I can offer to the bench from the legal perspective, and I very much appreciate that. You've also heard me talking about my commitment to public service and to this country, which means a lot to me. So I've always tried to wear a flag in one way or another, and I consider this the next opportunity to do so and to be of service. On the disability mental health side, look, it is the lens to which I view so many problems and challenges through. I see the law to have always been this chance of greater equality. And while there's so much to be proud of our country, we're not always— we're not there yet on a couple fronts. And the disability and mental health community in particular, I think, needs to have a little stronger champion who perhaps can can view things a little closer through their lens when they come to court as well. Not in any sense that shifts accountability or anything, but make sure that we're getting to a resolution that is just. That's what I'm hoping to bring, is that combination of skillset, that history of public service with the views of decades of advocacy in the disability and mental health arena. To the court. And with your help on May 20th, I can do that.

May 20th. And website, vote Dan now.

Well, vote Dan now actually sounds nice, uh, so maybe I should have done that one. But votemillermiller.com, uh, is, is the address. We'll maybe do—

let's see, vote Dan now, but vote Dan Miller— what is it?

Yeah, voteDanMiller.com.

VoteDanMiller.com. So, Dan, what message do you want to leave with our listeners today?

Look, only in a broader concept to go again back to Joyce Bender's words with it. You know, it's always about advocacy, right? It's always about— it's tough, right? Life makes it so almost that for so many of us, we're like, how can I fit all this in? And still have time to talk to my elected officials, still have a voice in the public arena. I get that. I very much do. The unfortunate part is we need you now more than ever to push into this public arena to make it as it's supposed to be, which is always your space. So no matter what type of, you know, what branch of government here we want to talk about, it is always what you want it to be. Right? And so if you wish to see a certain viewpoint in the legislature and executive, if you wish to have opportunity to influence who's making decisions on the bench, then you must be engaged and you must take the time to be informed on these issues and you must make your voice heard. The smallest way is sometimes the biggest way is just casting the vote. The other way is reaching out. So there are so many things here that we need help on, and I mentioned several of them on the disability mental health side here. We still have thousands of people on waiting lists in Pennsylvania. We are like the 5th largest state in the union, and we sit here with waiting lists for people, uh, some of which who are barely hanging on to— in their support networks. This is an embarrassment for our state. We, we should not be accepting this, right? And the way that we can move people is through you. If you can email, pick up the phone, make an appointment, come talk to your legislators or any type of government agency, let them know what you want to see. We can make a difference.

That's right. Well, thank you so much, Dan. Uh, once again, Dan Miller. I endorse Dan Miller for Common Pleas Judge. And we end every show with a quote, so today it is "We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, which others judge us by what we have already done," said Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. And in the words of Mary Brooker, when you go out today, remember, Choose joy.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters right here on the Voice America Variety Channel.

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