Sannicandro Wins Mass Advocates' Legislator of the Year

State Rep. Tom Sannicandro, who represents part of Framingham, was awarded the Legislator of the Year award at the Massachusetts Advocates for Children annual celebration Thursday for his pioneering work on behalf of people with disabilities in his seven years in office.

"Everything we've been able to do in the legislature we couldn't have done without the hard work of many of the people in this room," Sannicandro said in a press release. "It's very humbling to be given this award."

Former Governor Michael Dukakis introduced Sannicandro at the event, which took place at the Law Offices of Bingham McCutchen, LLP in Boston. “Representative Sannicandro has been passionately and tirelessly working to ensure equal opportunities for children with disabilities,” said Julia Landau, Senior Program Manager of Massachusetts Advocates for Children. “He is an effective leader who can build consensus on a wide range of issues impacting the Commonwealth’s vulnerable citizens.”

Sannicandro is chief sponsor of three key disability-related pieces of legislation.

One bill, which has already been voted on favorably by the Joint Education Committee, helps train educators to prepare students with disabilities for post-secondary life by focusing on employment and independent living skills.

Two other bills were heard Oct. 31 at hearing at Bristol Community College. One, known as the "Real Lives Bill," would empower individuals with disabilities to have greater control over how their state and federally supported funds are spent, with individual support plans designed around four self-determination goals: 1) a place to call home 2) economic self-sufficiency 3) support for existing or new long-term relationships and 4) real community membership.

A second bill, known as "Bridges to Success," incorporates post-educational training earlier into a student's individualized educational program and ensures a student is meeting goals for post-educational life.

In 2007, Sannicandro was the lead sponsor of the groundbreaking Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment (ICE) program that provided students with severe disabilities ages 18 to 22 who are still eligible for special education the opportunity to attend college with their non-disabled peers through partnerships between high schools and public colleges and universities. The Massachusetts model has since been emulated by the federal government.

Two of the students who participated in the ICE program, Karla Portillo and Brian Heffernan, also spoke and introduced Sannicandro on Thursday. Sannicandro also was lead sponsor of a bill that required school districts to initiate transition planning for students with disabilities at age 14 and has been crucial in securing state funding for special education.

In 2010, Sannicandro successfully pushed passage of a bill that replaced all instances of the words "mental retardation" with "persons with developmental disabilities" in state law. The law also changed the name of the Department of Mental Retardation to the Department of Developmental Services.