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Disability Rights Ohio Urges Support for Celebrating Disabilities Month Proclamation
Summary
At a second hearing on House Bill 32, Jordan Ballinger of Disability Rights Ohio recounted the history of disability advocacy from Willowbrook to the ADA and urged the committee to designate July as Celebrating Disabilities Month to elevate participation of people with disabilities in state policy.
Jordan Ballinger, policy director for Disability Rights Ohio, told the House Health Committee that House Bill 32 — a measure to designate July as Celebrating Disabilities Month — would recognize the contributions and civil‑rights history of people with disabilities in Ohio.
Ballinger traced federal disability protections to abuses uncovered at institutions like Willowbrook and the subsequent federal creation of the Protection and Advocacy (P&A) system and other disability rights statutes. He told the committee designating a month would elevate “the voices, choices, [and] participation of people with disabilities in policy making decisions” and acknowledged recent policy efforts to raise wages for direct care workers as part of ongoing system changes.
Committee members asked Ballinger for additional historical details about the first Ohio institution opened in Cincinnati in 1815; Ballinger agreed to follow up by email with the office. The committee received written testimony in addition to Ballinger’s remarks and concluded the second hearing on HB32 without a vote.
