Defending Disability Rights

Over 1.4 million New Jerseyans live with a disability, nearly 15 percent of the state, and disability is not a niche issue. It touches healthcare, housing, education, transportation, employment, public safety, and affordability, and anyone can become disabled at any moment. Since January 2025, the Trump administration has launched the most sweeping rollback of disability supports in a generation: hundreds of billions of dollars in projected Medicaid cuts, deep staffing reductions at Social Security, the hollowing out of federal special education oversight, the rescission of longstanding ADA guidance, and gutted capacity at the agencies disabled Americans depend on. NJ-07 deserves a federal partner who already knows what the acronyms mean and will show up when the votes are called.

For the disability community, Medicaid is the funding stream behind home and community-based services, personal care assistance, supported employment, and the direct support professionals who make independent living possible. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enacted in July 2025, includes the largest Medicaid cuts in the program's history, with hundreds of billions of dollars in projected reductions over the next decade. Because HCBS is technically optional under Medicaid, it is the first thing states cut when federal dollars disappear. Brian will vote no on Medicaid work requirements and any further cuts to HCBS, co-sponsor legislation to make HCBS a mandatory Medicaid benefit, oppose block grants and per capita caps, and expand HCBS waivers so families do not wait years for services they urgently need.

Roughly a million disability claims sit in a backlog right now, the average wait for an initial decision exceeds 230 days, and tens of thousands of people have died waiting for decisions in recent years. Trump’s cuts have stripped the Social Security Administration of roughly 12 percent of its workforce, field offices are being targeted for closure, and disabled, elderly, and low-income claimants are being pushed onto digital-only systems they cannot navigate. This is abandonment. Brian will fight to restore SSA staffing, keep field offices open, especially in rural parts of NJ-07, urgently reduce the disability claims backlog, and oppose any push to use age, algorithmic scoring, or automated systems to deny benefits to people who qualify.

More than 7 million children rely on special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Office of Special Education Programs, which oversees roughly 15 billion dollars in annual grants to schools, has been left with a skeleton staff, and the Rehabilitation Services Administration has been gutted. Project 2025 proposes converting IDEA into a no-strings block grant that would let states divert the funding however they want. Gerald Ford signed the first version of IDEA. George H.W. Bush signed the ADA. These protections were built on bipartisan ground, and defending them is a patriotic act. Brian will vote no on any IDEA block grant, fight to fully fund IDEA at the 40 percent level Congress promised but has never delivered, restore the Office of Special Education Programs to full capacity, and protect teacher training and inclusive education grants.

The Americans with Disabilities Act remains the law of the land, but effective enforcement depends on clear guidance, adequate staffing, and political will, and all three are being weakened. In 2025 the Department of Justice rescinded longstanding ADA guidance documents, the Civil Rights Division and the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights were severely downsized, and senior officials publicly referred to those who depend on federal programs as the parasite class. Brian will demand the reinstatement of rescinded ADA guidance, co-sponsor legislation to update the ADA for the digital age including web accessibility and protections against AI-driven discrimination, require federal agencies to conduct disability impact assessments before major policy changes, and create federal whistleblower protections for group home staff reporting abuse and neglect.

The Administration for Community Living, the federal government's primary disability-focused agency, lost roughly half its staff in 2025, putting at risk independent living services, disability research, and the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. Behind every disability program is a family caregiver who has been carrying the system on their back. Brian will fight to restore the Administration for Community Living as a fully staffed independent agency, expand respite care, create federal tax credits for family caregivers, establish paid family leave that includes caring for disabled adult family members, and provide Social Security credits for primary caregivers. Self-advocates, families, and disability-led organizations across NJ-07 will have a standing seat at the table, not as window dressing but as the people setting the agenda.