Candidate Name: Ken Diamondstone
Campaign Manager: Matthew Welch
Phone: 718-797-5522
Fax: 718-360-0648
Campaign Name: Diamondstone for State Senate
Campaign Address: 200 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201
Contact Person: Matthew Welch
Phone: 401-330-6209
Fax: 718-360-0648
Email: kendime@aol.com
Website: kendiamondstone.com
State Senate District: 25
Please describe any experience with disability you have had in your life or career.
I have worked with autistic youth and been a counselor to people disabled by drug addiction and AIDS. I have battled with my own dyslexia. And I have enjoyed the rewarding friendship of many in the disabled community.
Is your campaign headquarters accessible to persons with disabilities? If you are an incumbent, is your district office accessible to persons with disabilities? If you are in private practice, is your office accessible to persons with disabilities? If not, what have you done to ensure access?
Yes.
How will you incorporate people with disabilities into your campaign?
We have employed multiple people with disabilities on our staff and will continue to welcome members of the disabled community into our campaign.
Are you willing to hire and use flex-time and job-sharing if necessary?
Yes.
Seventy (70%) percent of people with disabilities of working age are unemployed at any given time, no matter how well or poorly the economy is doing. How will you use your office to advance employment opportunities for people with disabilities?
I will use my extensive personal contacts in the disabilities community to raise awareness of job opportunities and will use my office as a bully pulpit to improve these troubling statistics.
What will you do to reverse the negative impact of recent decisions in Federal Courts which are undercutting the powers of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 to protect the civil rights of people with disabilities in New York State? How would you change the laws of New York State to protect the rights of its citizens with disabilities?
I will work in the legislature to ensure that state laws maintain the spirit of ADA and offset the negative impacts of any such court decisions that undermine the civil rights of disabled persons.
Currently, over 130,000 people reside in nursing homes and other care facilities in New York State. In 1999, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) found in L.C. v Olmstead that individuals with disabilities have a right to live in the most integrated setting. What will you do to encourage Olmstead implementation in New York?
I have been a longtime supporter of legislation such as Su Casa, a provision that would have allowed people with disabilities on Medicaid to remain in their homes and receive care at a lower cost. Its failure to pass was a boon to the nursing home industry. I will continue to fight for improved quality of life in the disabilities community, using my background in socially responsible housing to encourage more integrated living spaces.
We are in the midst of a housing crisis. Accessible, affordable housing is in short supply. People with disabilities are being priced out of the market. What would you do to develop a housing policy that would lead to the development and maintenance of accessible, affordable and integrated housing stock?
I will call for a set-aside for disabilities in all 80/20 housing and give 421-A tax benefits only to developers who allot an agreed upon number of units to people with disabilities.
Timothy's Law was designed to end health insurance discrimination by enacting parity in coverage for people with biologically-based psychiatric disabilities. To address cost concerns raised by small businesses, the agreement directs the state Superintendent of Insurance to develop a methodology that would hold businesses with 50 or fewer employees harmless from any increase in insurance premiums that result from this measure. It also requires the state Insurance Department and the Office of Mental Health to conduct a two year study to determine the effectiveness and impact of mental health parity legislation in New York and other states. What would you do to help small business?
I support Timothy's Law and would explore tax credits to help make it more feasible for small businesses.
Under Kendra's Law, a state-funded Medicaid grants program has been established to provide medications for eligible individuals with a psychiatric disability upon release or discharge from institutions. This will help eliminate some of the problems associated with the Medicaid coverage gap. Do you support Medicaid Presumptive Eligibility legislation which would eliminate the standard 45 days without coverage, and thus without access to treatment?
Yes.
By passing the Help America Vote Act of 2002 the U.S. Congress has tried to ensure that people with disabilities will, by 2006, be able to cast an independent, private ballot for the first time. What will you do to ensure successful implementation HAVA?
I will act to ensure that the chosen voting technology facilitates the unassisted voting of disabled persons in all election districts.
Disabled children in grades K-12 are entitled to receive a "free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment,"
but there have been major problems. Most often, schools are not physically accessible and not accommodating their students' needs. What do you propose to correct this problem?
We must hold schools accountable for the needs of their students. As Senator, I will enforce compliance with the law.
Despite Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, students with disabilities face problems when pursuing higher education. These statutes do not specify how students should request accommodations or assistance in asserting their rights under the law. Will you support a fully funded office of disability services on each SUNY and CUNY campus to assist students with disabilities in securing accommodations?
Yes. Not only must we assure accommodations and assistance for undergraduates, we should create campus offices that will address the enormous discrimination that takes place in graduate application testing and certification testing within professions such as Law and Medicine.
What is your position on expanding DRIE (Disabled Rent Increase Exemption) to be the same as SCRIE (Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption) to low-income, eligible persons with disabilities under the age of 62 on the same basis and income level (currently the SCRIE's income cap is $25,000, while DRIE's is $17,000)?
I have supported the expansion of DRIE and will continue to do so. We should not wait for incremental measures to bring it in line with SCRIE, but immediately raise benefits to the equivalent level.
Do you support the extension of Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) to low-income persons with disabilities regardless of age? What would you do to ensure this?
Yes. I will be a vocal advocate for the expansion of EPIC.
What would you do to expand accessible transportation options for people with disabilities in NYS?
I will fight for universally accessible taxis in New York City. Significant tax credits can be given to owners who retrofit their taxis, and the City can take advantage of the cost benefits of mass production by requiring the entire fleet of vehicles to make this upgrade. New York should be a model for the entire nation in this effort. If London can do it, so can we.