By Nora Bent, Director of Government Affairs and Strategic Partnerships
As we conclude 2025, we want to take a moment to reflect and thank you all for your work. This has been quite a year, full of twists and turns and ups and downs. For all its challenges, this year has also shown the power and resilience of this community – and for that, we are grateful.
Since the new administration took office in January, the pace of policy change has been significant. From historically deep Medicaid and SNAP cuts to the erosion of special education civil rights protections, the IDD and autism community has faced a series of shifts that threaten decades of hard-won progress. These federal actions, including intensified immigration enforcement and cuts to critical research, have created an environment of uncertainty and anxiety. As we look to the new year, we are fully prepared to continue working with our Congressional delegation and collaborating with state leaders to mitigate these impacts.
Throughout it all, and with your partnership, we met the moment. Here are some highlights:
- We prioritized the development of accessible fact sheets and government affairs webinars to help our community understand these changes, provide resources, and encourage advocacy.
- We revamped our advocacy training curriculum and trained over 550 grassroots advocates across the state. We added an advocacy resource center to our website, and engaged thousands of advocates.
- We strengthened our legislative impact, hosting briefings at the State House, providing testimony, and championing several critical pieces of legislation.
- We succeeded in passing the archaic language bill, legislation strengthening education protections for students with disabilities and immigrant students, and critical transparency measures regarding historical institution records.
- We secured important funding levels in the FY26 budget, ensuring stability.
In January, our work will intensify.
As we move toward the conclusion of the formal legislative session in July, our focus remains on advancing priority bills and pushing for a state budget that protects Medicaid services and wages for the workforce. Over the past few months, we have shared these budget priorities directly with the Governor’s office and are leading a coalition of IDD and autism advocacy organizations. Stay tuned for more detailed budget information and specific advocacy tasks in the coming month.
We are so grateful for your partnership this past year. You play a critical role in this work – your engagement is what powers us. We encourage you to use the coming weeks to rest and recharge. We’ll see you in January!
If you would like to deepen your involvement in our advocacy efforts, please reach out directly to nbent@arcmass.org.
