JEFFERSON CITY – Minutes after Sen. Chuck Graham (D-Columbia) spoke to disability activists on the front lawn of the capitol at Disability Rights Legislative Day, several members of Show Me ADAPT chained and padlocked a door to the House Chamber.

The activists also ran a chain through the wheels of their wheelchairs, blocking the hallway outside the Democratic side of the House.

Capitol Police responded as people inside the chamber looked through small windows in the doors.

Activists chanted, “Hell no 539,” in protest over Gov. Matt Blunt’s signing of Senate Bill 539, a measure intended to reform Missouri’s Medicaid program.

Police officers had to contact Capitol maintenance staff for assistance in removing the locks.

John Loyd, Show Me ADAPT speaker, distributed an open letter to Blunt.

In the letter, Show Me ADAPT detailed the steps it had taken during the legislative session to oppose Senate Bill 539.

“We have testified at every hearing, even though many of us were turned away, some by force,” Show Me ADAPT said in the letter. “We have e-mailed, faxed, written letters, made telephone calls, made personal visits, staged two well-populated rallies and presented you (the legislators) with over 14,000 signatures on petitions to show you that the people of Missouri do not want these changes.”

Outlined in the letter were five demands, also voiced by Loyd and others in the hallway.

The first demand, “Restore the independent living protections in the Personal Attendant Services program,” relates to the Olmstead decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the Olmstead decision, the Court ruled individuals have the right not to placed in a group or nursing home setting if funding for personal care assistants and equipment for the person to live independently was less or equal to the statewide average institutionalization payment.

Shortly after taking office, Blunt consolidated the personal attendant PAS program.Show Me ADAPT’s second demand to Blunt was “keep your campaign promise to hold Medicaid eligibility at 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. People should not be rendered less than destitute in order to receive basic health care.”

The third and fourth demand dealt with adding provisions for disability community representation on the Government Reform Commission and the Medicaid Reform Commission, respectively.

The last demand was for Blunt to “meet with Show Me ADAPT representatives within 10 business days to discuss facilitation of the above actions.”

During the protest, Loyd demanded several times for Blunt to come and talk with them.

Shortly after the chain securing the door was removed, an unknown person from within the House Chamber passed a note to Loyd.

“You are on the Democrat’s side of the House; go to the other [Republican] side,” Loyd said the note read.

Earlier in the day, Loyd spoke out at the Disability Rights Legislative Day event. He rallied against Republicans legislators who spoke of Christian values and morals during last year’s election campaign.

Those same legislators voted for Senate Bill 539, he said.

“For a god like that I would rather go to hell,” Loyd said.

The activists continued their protest under the watchful eye of several Capitol police officers.