Ryan’s law in NC anybody? | Autism PDD

A coalition of parents of children with autism have won a stunning
victory in South Carolina. Ryan's Law, a bill that will require
private insurers to pay up to ,000 per year for health care and
services, includine ABA, for people with autism overcame a Governor's
veto today to become law. This is a victory of national significance.
If this law can pass in South Carolina it can be passed in any state,
if we have the orgnaization, drive and fortitude displayed by the
parents in South Carolina.

I am speechless in admiration for these iindomitable advocates.

Lorri Unumb, the architect of this brilliant campaign, wrote this
account of today's events.

As I'm sure you've heard by now from multiple sources, "Ryan's Law" is
finally law! Yippee!!! The last 24 hours have been an amazing,
incredible roller coaster ride, as have the last 2 years.

As you all know, the governor vetoed our bill after 10:00 last night.
(See veto message here:
http://www.scgovernor.com/uploads/upload/S.20.pdf)
Despite this late notice, more than 50 of you showed up at the State
House first thing this morning, wearing autism shirts, nametags,
buttons, and highly visible ribbons made this morning by Margie
Williamson (thanks, Margie!) We stood at the top of the State House
escalators and accosted every possible legislator to ask for their
vote one more time! We even had a little impromptu pep rally in the
lobby when Sen. David Thomas, Sen. Joel Lourie, and Rep. Skipper Perry
stopped by to thank us for our presence, encourage us, and give us
last-minute tips on obtaining the needed 2/3 vote for an override.

The Senate acted on the veto first, probably by 11:00 or so this
morning. Sen. Thomas of Greenville asked for unanimous consent to
override the veto. There were a few comments and then a real scare
when a senator from Anderson asked to hold up the vote for a while.
Grumbles and mumbles ensued, and some other senators were clearly
frustrated with him. He then backed off a little and said he just
needed 2 or 3 minutes to study the governor's veto statement. Things
got confusing, but Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer honored his request, moved on
to another bill, and then came right back to our veto issue. Senators
Thomas and Malloy then pulled a 1-2 punch and managed to get the veto
unanimously overridden without even going through a formal vote. All
was said and done before we knew it, so our balcony gang crossed the
lobby into the House chamber.

In the House, we waited for a LONG time while the House discussed lots
of other matters. Then, I was sure our chance of getting on the
agenda was lost when Speaker Pro Tem Smith and Speaker Harrell
delivered long, passionate speeches as part of a tiff, shall we say,
that's going on this week between the House and the Senate. At that
point, I was afraid we'd get lost in the crossfire and the debates
over the two major bills they can't agree on. Fortunately, our
primary sponsors – Skipper Perry this year and Nathan Ballentine last
year – pulled the Speaker aside and asked him to please take up the
autism bill right before lunch. Speaker Harrell did just that.

Rep. Perry made a brief plea to the members for a quick, clean
override. The Speaker was ready to call for a vote, and then another
representative rose to speak. My heart stopped, because I had not
spoken to this representative and had no idea what he wanted to say.
I held my breath as Rep. B.R. Skelton started:
"My mama taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say about a
person, you don't say anything at all. Well, I can't think of
anything nice to say about the governor's veto of the autism bill." I
breathed a sigh of relief.

He then went on to relate what a constituent had said to him this
morning. The constituent, a grandfather who called on behalf of
Ryan's Law and whose identity I don't yet know, gave Rep. Skelton an
ear-full about what he thought of the governor's veto and questioned
whether the governor had ever met a family without health insurance.
It was pretty brutal, and it brought audible reactions from the House
members. Although I was obviously glad that Rep. Skelton felt moved
enough by this constituent's message to speak on our behalf, I began
to worry that the critical words were going to anger the governor's
buddies in the House and backfire. I worried even more when the next
speaker to rise was Rep. Jim Merrill, the House Republican Majority
Leader and a Sanford friend. Rep. Merrill said he didn't think we
needed to get into personal attacks (a paraphrase; I can't remember
his exact words), but that he thought we should nevertheless override
the veto because the parties had worked so hard to reach a compromise
on this important issue. With that, the Speaker called the vote. I
was prepared for a voice vote (ayes v. nays), but then someone called
for a roll call vote. A roll call can be a little dangerous – the
governor can see which of his friends cast affirmative votes against
his veto – so I got nervous again. As each legislator cast his or her
vote, his or her name on the display board changed colors. "Green"
meant a vote in favor of the override, and I can't tell you what color
signified a vote to uphold the veto, because there were none! 114
members voted, and, one by one, 114 names turned green on the big board.

And then the tears began to flow. But it wasn't just Marcella and me
crying this time. (Lisa, unfortunately, was in Texas today and didn't
get to witness in person.) My husband beside me started tearing up.
Derrick and Sandrine Howle in the front row were crying. Everywhere I
looked around in the balcony, a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, a
cousin, a friend of a child with autism was weeping. Just then, all
members of the House rose to their feet, turned toward us in the
balcony, and erupted into applause. They gave us an emotional
standing ovation for the tireless efforts of this grassroots gang, and
they clearly felt proud of helping us override what some called a
"cruel" veto.

Tears, hugs, and celebrations continued in the lobby of the State
House, with senators and legislators coming out to greet and
congratulate us. So many expressed the sentiment that they were
honored to be part of this effort, which to them represented the
political system at its purest – citizens petitioning their government
for help and succeeding (though not without great difficulty and
heartache).

I cannot begin to thank you enough for making this grassroots effort
possible. We have worked for two years with no budget and no lobbyist
– seemingly impossible conditions in today's political world. But we
had passion, determination, and an incredibly worthwhile cause. Each
and every one of you who wrote an e-mail, sent a letter, made a phone
call, or visited your legislator made a difference. Like I said
above, I don't even know who the grandfather is that called B.R.
Skelton today, but that one call inspired Rep. Skelton to make an
impassioned plea on our behalf. You never know which phone call or
e-mail made the difference for each legislator, so every one of you is
to be commended for every single act you took in support of Ryan's Law.

Also, I would be remiss if I did not extend my super-special thanks to
Lisa & Cliff Rollins, Marcella & Steve Ridley, Derrick & Sandrine
Howle, and Dan Unumb, without whose encouragement and advocacy this
would have never happened.

I'm not going to plead with you to write any more letters or make any
more phone calls, but I'm sure your legislator would love to get a
note of thanks if you feel so inspired. They deserve to be thanked
for unanimously trumping the governor's veto less than 24 hours after
it was issued.

Although I obviously wish my son Ryan were not struggling with autism,
I am today very grateful and honored to be part of this autism community.

With deepest gratitude,
Lorri J