AUCD’s Community Inclusion Team supports the University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) Network in partnership with the Administration for Community Living.
AUCD’s Maternal and Child Health Engagement supports the Autism CARES Programs, including LEND and DBP Programs.
AUCD’s Public Health Team works to create health promotion and public health efforts that include people with disabilities.
AUCD Emerging Leaders are a part of a community that includes trainees, early career professionals, self-advocates, and family members from AUCD member Centers and Programs.
AUCD's Disability Policy News (DPN) is a weekly newsletter highlighting federal policy issues affecting people with disabilities and their families. DPN features updates in plain language and action steps that people can take to educate policymakers. DPN is published every Friday.
In this edition:
The current continuing resolution (CR) expires at the end of January, which makes passing a new CR or full-year funding bill a time-sensitive priority in Congress. Senate and House leaders are working on a few funding bills. AUCD Network programs and other programs affecting people with disabilities will be covered under the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education (LHHS) bill, which looks like it will be last on the docket, along with the Defense funding bill. On Thursday, the House passed three government spending bills to fund the Departments of Energy, Commerce, Interior, and Justice, as well as an Energy-Water bill.
Meanwhile, there is still some interest in extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, even after they expired at the end of 2025 and sent premiums skyrocketing this month. On Thursday, the House passed a bill extending the subsidies for three years with 17 Republican Representatives voting for the bill. There are not enough votes in the Senate to pass the bill, but Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and a few other Senators are working on their own deal to extend the tax credits.
At the end of last year, Congress passed a continuing resolution (also called a CR), which is a funding bill that makes sure the government has enough money for a few more months. This CR will fund the government until the end of January, so Congress needs to figure out how they will fund the government after that. This process is called "appropriations." Appropriations means money that is set aside by Congress for a particular use. Senate and House leaders are working on a few funding bills. On Thursday, the House passed a few bills. These bills would give money to programs under these Departments:
The bills also give money to water programs and some science programs in the federal government. AUCD programs and other disability programs are going to be in different bills, which are called Labor-Health and Human Services-Education bills. Those will come later.
Many people are able to pay less for healthcare every month because of something called "tax credits." A tax credit is an amount of money that people can save when they file their taxes. Usually, they are a reward from the federal government. For example, if the federal government wants more people to get health insurance, they might offer a tax credit to people who get health insurance. The Affordable Care Act has special tax credits that ended on December 31, 2025. Democrats want to make sure that people can still use these tax credits in the future so they can save money and afford healthcare. Some Republicans also want people to be able to keep using the tax credits. Some Republicans and Democrats have different bills that would extend the tax credits for a while longer.
These Affordable Care Act tax credits expired, so a lot of people can't use them anymore. Because of that, a lot of people are paying much more money for their healthcare now. However, there are some Members of Congress who want to pass a bill to let people use the tax credits again. A bill passed in the House to extend the tax credits for three more years. It probably won't pass in the Senate, but there are some Senators working on their own version of a bill.
View past issues of Disability Policy News to learn more about AUCD's policy priorities and how you can engage in policy actions.
