Bill is the Executive Director at the Boston Center for Independent Living and oversees the agency's public policy initiatives. He has been directing advocacy and human service organizations since 1979. In 2006 he coauthored the disability position paper for the Deval Patrick campaign and helped lead advocacy efforts and strategizing for BCIL's lawsuit against the MBTA and for passage of the PCA Workforce Council legislation. Bill is a founding member of the Health Care for All board and the primary designer and advocate for CommonHealth - the insurance program for disabled adults and children that was established during the state’s 1988 health reform effort and became a model for the Medicaid buy-in programs for people with disabilities established nationally by Senator Kennedy in 1999 legislation. In past years he was a leading organizer and strategist on legislation to expand health insurance coverage for people going to work and establishing three state disability housing programs (the Community Based Housing program, the Home Modifications Program, and the Alternative Housing Voucher Program). He also worked with the national Disability Rights Action Coalition for Housing, successfully leading a campaign for $50 million in Section 8 vouchers from HUD to be given to people with disabilities.
