Texas disability council picks what its next round of grants will pay for

The Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities meets Friday in San Antonio to set the priorities for its next round of grants. Anyone who wants to speak, in the room or by video, has to register by 5 p.m. Thursday.

Grants are most of what this agency does. It runs on a single federal award — $6,120,128, by the funding disclosure the council prints on its own website, which does not say which year the figure covers — and says it hands nearly 70 percent of that money straight back out each year to universities, advocacy groups and nonprofits. Nineteen of the council’s 27 seats are filled by the Governor’s appointees, and federal law requires that at least 60 percent of the membership be people with developmental disabilities or their parents, guardians or close relatives.

The timing is what makes Friday’s vote worth watching. The council’s published five-year plan covers 2022 through 2026 and expires with the federal year on September 30. No successor plan, and no public comment period for one, could be found on the council’s website. Its grants page currently advertises no open competitions at all. That makes Friday’s item on future funding priorities the first public signal of what the next round of money is meant to buy, and it is listed as an action item rather than a discussion.

Members also vote on the operating budget for the year starting in September and on a written agreement with the Texas Education Agency. That relationship is older than it sounds: since 2004 the education agency has been the council’s designated state agency, handling its accounting, payroll and hiring paperwork, and federal law lets the council require a memorandum spelling out who does what. The text of the agreement is not posted, so what it changes is not public.

Members also clear the minutes of their May 7 and 8 meeting, which the council’s own recap places in Houston and describes as funding a statewide outreach project and working through what to ask the Legislature for in 2027. The San Antonio League of Self-Advocates presents before the committee reports. Four bodies — the executive committee, the committee of the whole, project development and public policy — met at the same hotel Wednesday and Thursday and bring their recommendations with them. The meeting is set to adjourn at noon.

Meeting at a glance

Council members

• Andrew Crim, Fort Worth — chair.
• Barbara Knighton, Spring — vice chair.
• Edward Baffoe, Forney.
• Debbie Carlisle, San Antonio.
• Beatrice Degree, Missouri City.
• Roni Jo Frazier, Porter.
• Shana Halvorsen, Sugar Land.
• Abby Maddux, North Richland Hills.
• Dakota Marks, Huntington.
• Wendy Maurer, Conroe.
• Scott McAvoy, Cedar Park.
• Angie Panzica, Houston.
• Ashley Sattler, Beaumont.
• Robert Schier III, Elgin.
• Eric Shahid, Somerville.
• Meridith Silcox, Splendora.
• Jamie Thomas, Abilene.
• Two of the 19 Governor-appointed seats listed as vacant.
• Agency seats: Disability Rights Texas, Texas A&M, UT-Austin.
• Agency seats: education agency, health commission (two), workforce.
• The state health services seat is listed as vacant.

Roster: the council’s own member directory, last modified March 2, 2026, so it may not reflect appointments made since; it was not confirmed with the agency. The directory splits the 27 seats into 19 Governor-appointed places, of which 17 are filled, and eight held by state agencies and universities. Three members appear there under fuller names — Deborah “Debbie” Carlisle, Abigail “Abby” Maddux and Angela “Angie” Panzica. Elizabeth Danner holds the Texas Education Agency seat; the Medicaid seat at the Health and Human Services Commission lists only an alternate, Kate Layman, and no primary. Staff: Beth Stalvey, executive director, per the contact on the meeting notice.