Our Policy Priorities for the 89th Legislative Session: A Roadmap to a More Inclusive Texas

More than 500,000 Texans live with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and face unnecessary, unfair systemic barriers across all areas of life, from community services and education, to civil rights and employment. 

As we approach the 89th Texas Legislative Session, The Arc of Texas stands ready to advocate for transformative change—a Texas where all people with IDD can flourish and live fully integrated in their communities, empowered by comprehensive access to the services and supports they need, including expanding access to home and community-based services, restructuring special education funding methods, strengthening civil rights protections, and improving access to competitive, integrated employment opportunities. 

This summer, as part of our “Tour Across Texas,” we conducted legislative advocacy trainings in 10 local chapter regions and heard from disability rights advocates about the most pressing issues impacting our community. Your voices deepened our understanding of systemic barriers Texans with IDD face, and we thank you.

Policy Priorities

Our 89th Session Policy Priorities, which tie to our longstanding Policy Pillars, serve as a roadmap to a future in which barriers to inclusion and accessibility are dismantled and Texans with disabilities are met with opportunity, respect, and support at every turn. See below or download our policy priorities onepager.

Pillar: Quality of Life

Key Challenges: 180,000+ people with IDD are on Medicaid waiver waitlists for vital community-based services. Extended wait times leave families without the necessary supports to promote independence and community integration. Texas is also grappling with a direct care workforce crisis, where direct support professionals—who provide essential assistance to Texans with IDD—are paid just $10.60 an hour, resulting in high turnover, creating instability in care, and further straining already limited resources.  

Policy Priorities:

• Increase Access to Home and Community-Based Services: Reduce wait times for services that prevent institutionalization. Improve management of interest lists to achieve timely access to care. 

• Address the Direct Care Workforce Crisis: Strengthen the direct care workforce through wage parity between direct support professionals assisting people with IDD in the community ($10.60/hour) and institutional settings ($19.16/hour).

• Expand Access to Mental Health Services: Increase outpatient capacity and availability of mental health services for individuals with IDD by expanding the use of the biopsychosocial model through local IDD authorities. 

Pillar: Inclusive Education

Key Challenges: Children with IDD face significant barriers to accessing education and early intervention services. School districts are critically underfunded due to outdated special education funding formulas, which result in insufficient resources. Additionally, the limited availability of inclusive postsecondary education programs for students with IDD prevents many from pursuing higher education and expanding employment opportunities. 

Policy Priorities:

• Equitable Funding for Special Education Services: Implement the Special Education Funding Commission’s recommendation to shift to an intensity-based funding model that addresses each child’s unique educational needs. 

• Promote Safe and Inclusive School Environments: Address the disproportionate physical restraints students with disabilities experience by enhancing training for educators on effective positive behavior strategies and de-escalation. Ensure students with disabilities are fully included in school safety and emergency planning efforts. 

• Expand Access to Inclusive Higher Education: Establish funding opportunities for colleges and universities to create inclusive postsecondary programs supportive of the academic and social needs of students with IDD. 

Pillar: Civil Rights & Justice

Key Challenges: People with IDD face discrimination and inadequate legal protections, compounded by limited community supports. This issue is even more acute for those with both IDD and mental health conditions who often do not receive timely access to care, leading to crisis.

Policy Priorities:

• Define and Establish an Appropriate Process for Identifying People with IDD: Ensure an accurate and consistent definition of IDD, while creating a clear, standardized process for identifying individuals with IDD within the criminal legal system to prevent unwarranted executions, promote fairness, and bring Texas into compliance with federal law. 

• Ensure Self-Determination and Protect Rights of Texans with IDD: Promote policies that empower Texans with IDD to make informed choices and live independently, while safeguarding their rights from discrimination, exploitation, or abuse. 

• Uphold Existing Voting Rights for Texans with IDD: Ensure the ability to vote privately and independently through access, accommodations, and support. 

Pillar: Comprehensive Integrated Employment

Key Challenges: Texans with IDD face disproportionately high unemployment rates—twice that of their non-disabled peers. Discriminatory attitudes, lack of accommodations, and limited access to job training and support services prevent many from securing and maintaining meaningful employment. These urgent barriers impact thousands of individuals across our state. By acknowledging them, we can ensure Texans with IDD have the same opportunities to succeed and thrive as anyone else.

Policy Priorities:

• Promote Competitive Integrated Employment for Texans with IDD: Advocate for policies that increase access to competitive, integrated employment opportunities, enabling individuals with IDD to earn competitive wages in inclusive workplaces. 

• Enhance Employment Support Services and Peer Support: Expand funding for job training, career counseling, on-the-job supports, and peer support programs to help individuals with IDD secure, retain, and succeed in meaningful employment. 

• Eliminate Barriers to Employment for Texans with IDD: Address barriers to employment by advocating for workplace accommodations, inclusive hiring practices, and equal opportunities for career advancement. 

“Real change requires all of us. As we advocate together, we call on our state leaders to act boldly, recognizing the urgent need for policies that uplift and include Texans with disabilities.”— Sabrina Gonzalez Saucedo, Director of Public Policy & Advocacy, The Arc of Texas

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