State Rep. Debbie Phillips receives “Legislator of the Year” Award

State Representative Debbie Phillips was honored as the “Legislator of the Year” by the Ohio County Boards of Developmental Disabilities (OACB) at their 27th annual convention on December 2. The award was presented by our Superintendent Eric Young, and Dan Schoonover, a self-advocate from Athens County. Representative Phillips represents areas of Athens, Meigs, Morgan and Washington Counties.

In introducing Representative Phillips, Eric noted that Debbie Phillips began working and helping people with developmental disabilities long before she won her state representative race. “During her tenure as an Athens City councilmember, she helped make the city of Athens more accessible for people with disabilities by serving as the Council Liaison to the Athens City Commission on Disabilities,” he said. Representative Phillips was active in removing the words “mental retardation” from the name of all County Boards of Developmental Disabilities as she introduced HB 118, the companion bill to Senate Bill 79 which struck the words “mental retardation” from the Ohio Revised Code. Representative Phillips was just elected to her second term in the House, and has been named Minority Whip for 2011.