Maria Town

Dark blue gradient background. There are two illustrated white candles. Text reads: Today, March 1st, is Disability Day of Mourning. Today our community remembers disabled people lost to filicide. Join ASAN for our virtual vigil tonight on our YouTube channel. The ASAN logo is at the bottom.

🕯️Today is Disability Day of Mourning, when our community remembers disabled people lost to filicide. Join us tonight 6pm ET for ASAN’s virtual vigil: youtu.be/HeF3LrHTuBM

#DDoM2026

Thank you for coming!!!

Photo of (L to R) Maria, me, and Lachi with her sparkly Glam Cane; we are all smiling at the camera and looking gorgeous AF. I am holding a copy of Lachi's book "I identify as blind" in my hand.

Very few people will get me to leave my warm, comfy bed and go outside in this icy snow; @mariatown.bsky.social & @lachimusic.bsky.social did! Thrilled I got to spend the evening listening to their conversation on all things disability, including Lachi's new book "I identify as blind."

Today, from my apartment window, I watched an older woman using a rollator go into the middle of traffic to cross diagonally because that path was the only accessible option to her. I submitted a service request to the appropriate local agency today. Fingers crossed they act fast.

I have not been able to leave my apartment since Friday, January 23rd. While the sidewalk next to me has been cleared, the curb cut is an extreme winter sports event course, as are the three other curb cuts at the intersection.

Unhoused women on Skid Row face dire health outcomes. This doctor wants to change that Homeless women face unique health challenges with few dedicated resources. And as the number of women experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles continues to grow, Dr. Mary Marfisee hopes to bring them lifesaving resources.

Homeless women face unique health challenges with few dedicated resources. And as the number of women experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles continues to grow, Dr. Mary Marfisee hopes to bring them lifesaving resources.

FDA deletes warning on bogus autism therapies touted by RFK Jr.‘s allies The agency used to warn of chelation, used by RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine ally David Geier.

This was my big concern with RFK Jr.'s fearmongering about autism: That it would lead to the rationalization of draconian quack "treatments" for autism. arstechnica.com/health/2026/...

Perry: Trusted providers are being unfairly swept up in Minnesota’s fraud crackdown As the state's new anti-fraud screening system went into effect, the Holland Center expected to receive $212,000 in payments. It instead received $22,000, David M. Perry writes. If nothing changes soo...

You've probably been following the story about fraud in MN. I wrote about the people who provide services who are being driven into bankruptcy, thanks to the Walz' administration decision to hire Optum AI to screen all payments. It's a disaster.

... that’s Step Three in the autocrat's playbook.

In our democracy, actions of this magnitude and decisions about what happens next, must go through Congress - not be dictated by a president who admires authoritarians and rules like one.

Foreign policy is not the personal domain of a president. Congress has a constitutional role to serve as the voice of the people and a restraint on power. One of the oldest moves in the authoritarian playbook is to sideline the legislature and strip away checks and balances...

Nicolás Maduro is a brutal dictator who has caused immense suffering. However, the way to fight authoritarianism abroad is not to embrace it at home.

Hero of 2025: Alice Wong The disability justice icon's last message: "Don’t let the bastards grind you down."

“I’m honored to be your ancestor and believe that disabled oracles like us will light the way to the future. Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.”

Hero of 2025: Alice Wong The disability justice icon's last message: "Don’t let the bastards grind you down."

For my hero of 2025 at @motherjones.com, I wrote about the late great disabled disability justice oracle Alice Wong, including her work with Disability Visibility Project, Crips for eSims for Gaza, and #CripTheVote. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Homeless and Burning in America’s Hottest City

Some work I’m proud of from this year (all of the links are gift links)…

I joined street-medicine teams in Phoenix in July as they tried to help unhoused people cope with increasingly extreme heat:

Disability rights advocate Bob Kafka dead at 79 Bob Kafka was an organizer with ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today), a group which advocates for policy change to support people with disabilities.

Bob Kafka was an organizer with ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today), a group which advocates for policy change to support people with disabilities. n.pr/4pWshr5

‘A Demographic Ticking Time Bomb’: Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Comes for Seniors’ Caretakers Thirteen percent of immigrants providing long-term care in people’s homes are noncitizens.

The caregiving industry could not survive without immigrants. But a third of the staff at one Miami nursing home lost their jobs after the Trump administration ended the programs letting them work legally.
www.notus.org/immigration/...

Also worth noting that it doesn't seem to account for family caregivers, e.g. a parent who may have left the workforce, and is not at school, in order to care for another family member!

Critiquing social programs and thinking about how they can do better is good, actually. NM is clearly moving toward making this program more inclusive and easier to access over time. I hope that those involved in implementation are thinking about how to incorporate disablity into the future.

I want to be clear that I'm not saying this program is bad, or that the state is acting in bad faith, or that other states shouldn't take this example and run with it. I AM saying that anyone advocating for universal childcare needs to be thinking about how it connects with disablity.

The other is the work/school requirements. This kind of means testing in general isn't great. NM waives in some settings (such as grandparents or housing unstable families), but there does not appear to be a carveout for disabled parents, who I guess don't exist or matter.

One is the fact that some disabled children need medical daycare, which is a really scarce resource. Some childcare facilities will also exclude disabled children even when they don't need specialized care because they're worried about liablity. I'm not seeing much discussion on addressing this!

Not to be That Person but watching the discourse around New Mexico's universal free childcare program, which, to be clear, is a really good start, I don't see a lot of engagement with two pretty significant disablity issues...

All of these are correct takes.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS ET AL., Plaintiffs, V. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ET AL., Defendants. * * * * * * * * * * * Civil Action No. 1:25-cv-13165-IT MEMORANDUM AND ORDER October 31, 2025 TALWANI, D.J. Pending before the court is Plaintiffs' Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order [Doc. No. 3] seeking to enjoin, on an emergency basis, Defendants' November 1, 2025 suspension of benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ("SNAP"). For the reasons stated below, Plaintiffs have standing to bring this action and are likely to succeed on their claim that Defendants' suspension of SNAP benefits is unlawful. Where that suspension of benefits rested on an erroneous construction of the relevant statutory provisions, the court will allow Defendants to consider whether they will authorize at least reduced SNAP benefits for November, and report back to the court no later than Monday, November 3, 2025.

A. Likelihood of Success on the Merits Plaintiffs have demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits of their claim under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A), (C), that Defendants' suspension of SNAP benefits is contrary to law. At core, Defendants' conclusion that USDA is statutorily prohibited from funding SNAP because Congress has not enacted new appropriations for the current fiscal year is erroneous. To the contrary, Defendants are statutorily mandated to use the previously appropriated SNAP contingency reserve when necessary and also have discretion to use other previously appropriated funds as detailed below.

As both parties acknowledge, Congress has not yet appropriated any new funds for SNAP benefits for Fiscal Year 2026, which began on October 1, 2025. Pls.' Mem. 6 [Doc. No. 4]; Defs.' Opp'n 7 [Doc. No. 18]. But Congress took steps to protect against the deprivation of SNAP assistance. In the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Pub. L. No. 118-42, § 6, 138 Stat. 25, 93-94, Congress separately appropriated $6 billion to the SNAP program "to remain available through September 30, 2026" and "be placed in reserve for use only in such amounts and at such times as may become necessary to carry out program operations." See also Pub. L. No. 119-4, § 1101(a), 139 Stat. 9, 10 (2025). As Plaintiffs point out, given the mandatory nature of SNAP benefits under 7 U.S.C. § 2014(a) and the appropriation of these funds to be available 10 Case 1:25-cv-13165-IT Document 26 Filed 10/31/25 Page 11 of 15 through this current fiscal year, the government is obligated to use this contingent reserve account to fund SNAP "as may become necessary to carry out program operations." 138 Stat. at 93-94; Pls.' Mem. 11 [Doc. No. 4].

Defendants argue out that a "suspension" is permitted under USDA's regulations, and that USDA "has consistently interpreted its authority to allow for the suspension or cancellation of benefits when necessary." Defs. Opp'n 6 [Doc. No. 18). The regulation at issue, 7 C.F.R. $ 271.7(a), sets forth procedures to be followed if monthly SNAP allowances "must be reduced, suspended, or cancelled to comply with section 18 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008" (emphasis added). But that the regulation allows for a suspension when there are no funds does not mean that Defendants may choose a suspension over a reduction while funds do remain. If the regulation did authorize such discretion, it would be inconsistent with the statutory mandate that benefits "shall" be paid unless funding is no longer available.

BREAKING: Federal judge rules that the Trump administration likely illegally suspended SNAP benefits, ruling that at least reduced distribution is required to go forward under law using the $6 billion reserve fund.

Judge gives the Trump admin until Monday to respond as to whether it will act.

Government Shutdown Has Disability Providers 'Running On Fumes' Nearly a month into the federal shutdown, some organizations aiding people with disabilities are starting to scale back services as the effects begin to mount.

“Given how many people with disabilities rely on benefits from government programs, this shutdown is especially harmful for the disability community” - @mariatown.bsky.social, @aapd.com

#DisabilityJustice
www.disabilityscoop.com/2025/10/28/g...

Judge gives Trump administration until Monday to have a plan for SNAP benefits Judge Indira Talwani acknowledged this will leave millions of people without assistance starting Saturday. Two dozen Democratic-led states had sued over the administration's decision to suspend SNAP.

Judge Indira Talwani acknowledged this will leave millions of people without assistance starting Saturday. Two dozen Democratic-led states had sued over the administration's decision to suspend SNAP. n.pr/3JxdjHW

Judges order the Trump administration to use contingency funds for SNAP payments during the shutdown Two federal judge have ruled that the Trump administration must continue to fund the SNAP food aid program using contingency funds during the government shutdown.

BREAKING: Judges order the federal government to use contingency funds for SNAP food aid payments during the shutdown.

Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leaders Award - AAPD The AAPD Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Awards recognizes outstanding emerging leaders with disabilities who exemplify leadership, advocacy, and dedication to the broader cross-disability community.

2026 Applications for the Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leaders Award close TOMORROW at 5 PM ET! Recipients receive $25,000 for leadership development and to advance a bold idea for people with disabilities.

Go to our website to apply and learn more: www.aapd.com/paul-g-hearn...

League of Women Voters CEO Celena Stewart: Courage is Not the Absence of Fear Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters, joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to talk about the organization's history, as well as its role in this challenging time for many voters.

This week on The State of Belief: Rev. @raushenbush.bsky.social is joined by @thecelinafactor.bsky.social, CEO of @lwvus.bsky.social!

Education Dept. Reverses Decision to Halt Funds for Deafblind Student Programs Following public outcry, the Department of Education has reversed its decision to cut funding for students who have both hearing and vision loss, opting instead to reroute grants to an organization th...

The programs will continue to receive grant funding, but only for one year.

“It is still a disruption to families,’’ Lisa McConachie of the Oregon DeafBlind Project said. “It creates this mistrust, that you are gone and back and gone and back.”