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their response to the public health emergency. The Sena- tors requested that the Administration consult these communities, publicly report data on hospital-acquired COVID-19 infections and deaths, clarify mask man- dates still applied in health care facilities, and explore options to make high-quality masks available to high- risk groups.
Also in May 2022, Senators Markey, Duckworth, Kaine, Smith, King and Whitehouse led their Senate colleagues in a letter to the Senate LLHS Appropriations Subcom- mittee urging the inclusion of $125 million to address Long COVID.
Markey has been a leader on the issue of medical leaves of absence in higher education, calling attention to prac- tices which limit disabled students’ access to higher education. In November 2022, Senator Markey wrote to the Department of Education and Department of Justice urging them to issue guidance on involuntary medical leaves of absences (involuntary MLOAs). Colleges and Universities utilize involuntary MLOAs to require stu- dents to leave their studies and campus life. It exposes them to undue financial, medical, and emotional bur- dens which make it harder for them to return to and complete their education.
Markey has worked to prevent discrimination of people with disabilities and their participation in jury service.
In March of 2023, Senator Markey and Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) introduced their Disability and Age in Jury Service Nondiscrimination Act, an expand- ed version of their Disabled Jurors Nondiscrimination Act, to prohibit excluding a person from federal jury service on account of disability status or age. While Massachusetts and 26 other states currently prohibit excluding or disqualifying people from state jury ser- vice on account of a disability. Massachusetts and ten other states have prohibitions on age discrimination for state jury service.
Federal law does not yet prohibit the dismissal of poten- tial jurors on the basis of disability or age.
In February of 2023, Senator Markey called on Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, to reinstate the company’s Accessibility Team and support the implementation of accessibility features on the platform. Under his owner- ship, Twitter notably removed automated closed cap- tioning on Twitter Spaces, an audio -only livestreaming service. In his letter to Musk, Senator Markey wrote “Twitter has a responsibility to ensure that its platform is open and accessible to disabled users,” and under- scored the need for the company to ensure users with disabilities can fully participate on its platform.
markey.senate.gov
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