FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 6, 2026

Media Contacts:             Carl Schulze, quadcarl@gmail.com, (906)282-9650
Jason Glozier, jglozier@wcilc.org (608) 422-0525
Tami Jackson, tamara.jackson@wisconsin.gov (608) 228-7285

(Note: Schulze is pronounced SHUL-zee)

FOX VALLEY MAN TRAVELING BY WHEELCHAIR ARRIVES AT CAPITOL
TO CALL OUT THREATS TO DISABILITY RIGHTS AND HOME CARE

MADISON – After 11 days traveling by wheelchair from his home in Fox Crossing, Carl Schulze arrived at the state Capitol on Thursday to ask elected officials to offer concrete plans to preserve the Medicaid-funded home care that he, other people with disabilities, older adults, and family caregivers count on daily.

“People with disabilities are asking for the basic tools that allow us to live with dignity and independence: reliable home healthcare that keeps us out of nursing homes and other institutions,” Schulze said. “I am campaigning for the largest minority group in the country — the only one that anyone can join at any moment.”

Last year, Schulze took his first wheelchair trip to the state Capitol to call for higher pay for caregivers. This year his trip was fueled by the nearly $1 trillion cut Congress made to Medicaid funding and a Justice Department memo that questions whether people with disabilities have the right to receive care in the community.

“This year is different. This year the danger is no longer theoretical,” Schulze said. “The federal government is telling states, in plain language, that they will not be punished if they cut home care. They are saying it is not a violation of my civil rights to put me in an institution against my will.”

Schulze relies on caregivers daily to get in and out of his wheelchair. He wants elected representatives and candidates for office to answer how they will ensure that people with disabilities can live with dignity and independence.

“When Medicaid is cut, the damage doesn’t stop with the person receiving care. Home-care workers, nursing-facility staff, therapists, and the local businesses that support them lose hours and wages,” Schulze said. “Some families lose the ability to keep a parent, spouse, or child at home. Forcing people into nursing homes and other institutions cost taxpayers more, not less, and individuals lose their freedom to live the lives they want and reach their full potential. Cuts that look clean on a spreadsheet become concrete losses in every neighborhood in this state.”

Prior to the press conference outside the King Street entrance of the State Capitol, Schulze was joined by other advocates whom he invited to roll, bike or walk the final stretch of his journey with him up East Washington Avenue.

“The last year has brought unprecedented assaults on the civil rights of people with disabilities,” said Jason Glozier, co-chair of Survival Coalition and Executive Director for the Wisconsin Coalition of Independent Living Centers. “Services that promote health, safety and independence are in danger of being stripped away from people simply because they have a disability.”

Wisconsin is already in a crisis due to the lack of paid caregivers, and family members frequently fill the gap, said Tami Jackson, co-chair of Survival Coalition and Public Policy Analyst for the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities.

“Families are already contributing huge amounts of care to make it work, sometimes sacrificing their jobs and careers to do it and they can’t do any more,” Jackson said. “Anyone who needs a little help to stay in their home won’t get it if there are no workers or providers. And all of us will need that help.”

Follow Carl Schulze’s journey on TikTok (@quadcarl), YouTube (quadcarl – YouTube), and Facebook (Carl Schulze | Facebook)

BACKGROUND: Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo from April 2026, that projects a more than $260 million shortfall in Wisconsin Medicaid by the end of this budget year (June 30, 2026).

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U.S. DOJ rescinds long-standing guidance on ADA, rights of people with disabilities to live in the community

On July 20^th the U.S. Department of Justice issued a notice to rescind its long-standing guidance on enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) integration mandate and Olmstead v. L.C. declaring the guidance “not enforceable.” The guidance says what qualifies as the most integrated setting under the ADA and Olmstead, who should be able to access services in the community, and much more.

The integration mandate is the foundation of disability civil rights, ensuring that people with disabilities can live, work, and participate fully in their communities.

Disability advocates worry the rescinding of guidance is part of a larger pattern attacking disability rights.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice released an opinion that argues core civil rights laws—the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the 1999 Supreme Court Olmstead decision–do not require states to integrate people with disabilities into the community. The U.S. DOJ’s opinion is contrary to decades of interpretation and long-standing legal precedent.

The U.S. DOJ opinion does not change the law, but it sends a signal to federal agencies and states that U.S. DOJ will not enforce current law or object to changes that may undermine or remove supports that help people live in the community.

An ongoing legal case Texas v. Kennedy is challenging Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. The lawsuit challenges whether people with disabilities have a right to live in the community and wants to let states decide whether to provide community services without worrying about creating conditions that force people into institutions. The U.S. DOJ opinion and subsequent revocation of guidance are in alignment with the plaintiffs, and Texas has pointed to the DOJ memo as “supplemental authority” for the court to consider.

Advocates worry other federal actions are moving in a similar direction, including:

• Moving oversight of special education out of the U.S. Dept of Education to the Dept of Health and Human Services and moving civil rights enforcement of IDEA (which guarantees students with disabilities access to education) to U.S. DOJ.
• Stopping Medicaid payments for care work that has already been completed and withholding future payments on suspicion—not evidence—of fraud and specifically targeting home care services that support people with disabilities and older adults and jeopardizing access to care.
• Proposing Medicaid work requirement rules that will make it harder for family caregivers, people who are ill, have chronic conditions, or who have disabilities to meet exemption requirements. 
• Multiple changes that threaten the paid caregiver workforce, including proposals to roll back minimum wage, overtime, and other labor protections for home care workers.
• Taking back already awarded federal grants or delaying awarding of federal funds appropriated by Congress that are intended to support people with disabilities.

“Collectively, these actions are moving us backwards toward a time when people with disabilities were set aside in abusive, expensive institutions and denied the basic expectations every able-bodied person has, to live at home with people they choose, to learn, to work, to choose what they want to do and find joy,” said Jason Glozier, Survival Coalition co-chair.

“Actions that question whether people with disabilities should be in the community or make it harder for people who need care to remain in the community are an attack on all of us.” said Tami Jackson, Survival Coalition co-chair. “People with disabilities are the largest minority in the country and the only one that any of us can join at any time. These laws protect us all.”

“No one wants to be forced into an institution because there is not enough home care infrastructure to provide help,” said Patti Becker, Survival Coalition co-chair. “Anyone who needs a little help to stay in their home won’t get it if there are no workers or providers. And all of us will need that help.” See Statement

The U.S. Department of Justice released an opinion last week that argues core civil rights laws—the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the 1999 Supreme Court Olmstead decision–do not require states to integrate people with disabilities into the community. U.S. DOJ’s new opinion is contrary to decades of interpretation and long-standing legal precedent.

“This U.S. DOJ opinion undermines the core civil rights laws that protect all people with disabilities from being forced into institutions,” said Tami Jackson Survival Coalition co-chair. “People with physical disabilities, intellectual and developmental disabilities, people who have acquired disabilities through illnesses or age, people with mental health conditions are all protected by the same laws. An attack on these laws is an attack on all of us.”

For decades, the Olmstead v. L.C. decision has affirmed a simple truth: segregation of people with disabilities is discrimination. The integration mandate is not optional — it is the foundation of disability civil rights, ensuring that people with disabilities can live, work, and participate fully in their communities.

“Federal dollars should be spent in a way that ensures people have access to the promises of the constitution,” said Jason Glozier, Survival Coalition Co-Chair. “People who are institutionalized unnecessarily are fundamentally unable to pursue life, liberty and happiness. We will not be told that the basic expectations every able-bodied person has, to live at home with people they choose, to work, to find joy is out of reach for us because we are disabled.”

“If states decide they don’t want to invest in home care, it’s not only people with disabilities who are impacted,” said Patti Becker, Survival Coalition co-chair. “Make no mistake, home care keeps older adults out of nursing homes, and most home care is paid for by states through Medicaid. Sending a signal to states that they can stop spending on home care for people with disabilities reduces the ability for everyone to get support in their homes and guarantees states will return to spending far more taxpayer dollars to put fewer people in more expensive institutions where they do not want or need to be.” The U.S. DOJ opinion does not change the law, but advocates are concerned federal agencies will now not enforce current law or repeal rules that help people live in the community. This opinion is part of a larger pattern attacking disability rights. A separate legal case Texas v. Kennedy is challenging Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. The lawsuit wants to overturn that protection and let states decide whether to provide community services and not worry about creating conditions that force people into institutions. Link to press release.