Advocating for the Disability Community

Sherrod has worked to strengthen and modernize the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and has opposed efforts to weaken or undermine this critical legislation.

He has pushed to break down barriers to information and communications technologies for people with disabilities. He’s opposed legislation that would have made it easier for businesses to discriminate against people with disabilities.

Sherrod voted to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2012, affirming his commitment to protecting the rights of all people with disabilities.

Sherrod voted for the bipartisan Workforce Innovation And Opportunity Act, which created job training programs for Ohioans of all abilities. With Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), Sherrod sponsored legislation to help veterans with service-related disabilities find good jobs.

Sherrod has fought to make sure that Ohioans with disabilities connected to their work, whether veterans wounded in service or miners with black lung, have access to the best possible care.

Throughout his career, Sherrod has worked to make sure every Ohioan, regardless of income, can get the healthcare they need. He helped pass the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which has extended healthcare coverage for 5 million Ohioans with preexisting conditions and expanded access to community-based care and habilitative and rehabilitative services like occupational therapy and speech pathology. Sherrod also fought for nearly two decades to establish parity for mental health coverage, which he helped codify as part of the ACA.

Sherrod supports ending limits on Medicaid coverage for mental health care and has joined Governor Kasich in fighting back attempts to gut the Medicaid expansion, which has helped nearly 500,000 Ohioans get mental and behavioral health treatment.

No one has fought harder than Sherrod to protect the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which serves nearly half of Ohio’s children with disabilities. Sherrod has worked for years to pass long-term funding for CHIP. In 2018 he co-sponsored the bill that successfully extended the program for the next six years.

Sherrod has worked to give children with disabilities the support they need in the classroom by supporting the Individuals With Disabilities Education (IDEA) Act, which benefits one in seven Ohio students, and by securing and protecting millions of dollars in funding for staff and services to help students with disabilities.

Sherrod has worked with Republicans and Democrats to decrease the backlog and wait times for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).

He joined Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) in calling for full funding for the Social Security Administration and teamed up with Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) to do away with the five-month waiting period for individuals with terminal illnesses to access SSDI benefits.

Sherrod and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have worked together to expand Supplemental Security Income, which benefits nearly 300,000 Ohioans with disabilities.