On Thursday, February 15, the House of Representatives passed the ADA Education and Reform Act (HR 620) by a 225-to-192 vote, with 12 Democrats joining all but 19 Republicans to approve the contentious and controversial bill. HR 620 makes the Title III architectural barrier provisions of the ADA optional by removing any incentive violators have to follow the law.
Marketed as a bill to increase ADA compliance and promote greater inclusion of disabled Americans, HR 620 undermines decades of progress by making it harder for people with disabilities to assert their rights under the ADA while letting violators off the hook. If the bill is successful in the Senate, the law will make it more difficult for disabled Americans to shop, eat out, and use public accommodations alongside our friends, family members, colleagues, and peers.
The Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) strongly and unequivocally condemns the misinformed House vote to roll back the civil rights of people with disabilities. The ADA was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support 28 years ago in 1990, and has dramatically improved the lives of tens of millions of disabled Americans since then. This attempt by the House to return disabled Americans to second class citizenship will not go unnoticed by voters.
Backers of HR 620 can try to spin the vote, but the bottom line is, this bill, and the House members who voted in favor of it, just sanctioned discrimination and rewarded law-breakers by removing incentives to comply with one of our nation’s civil rights laws. This bill reinforces the fiction of a tsunami of so-called drive-by lawsuits, amplified by powerful corporate and industry interests, without offering any real solutions. In actual fact, the few unscrupulous attorneys who misuse the ADA are better addressed by state courts and bar associations.
Worse yet, HR 620 does the opposite of what its backers say the bill was designed to correct: it adds legal hurdles for those facing discrimination to jump through, increases court wait times, and lets law–breakers carry on with business as usual. Violators have had 28 years to become familiar with and follow the ADA. That’s long enough. Any attempt by industry backers to bamboozle the public and assault the ADA with additional lies, corporate pressure, and hyperbole must be rejected by the Senate.
I can’t believe this I right now today am dealing with a company that charged medicare $30,000.00 for a power chair that they could have gotten off of Amazon for $5,000.00.But here’s the real issue the chair is not the right size for me meaning I need a 25 inch wide seat brought me a 22 inch seat then after a few months of waiting they finally wided but still the original cushion I reclined in the chair 1st time chair stopped working I’m in the air no power my husband turn on and off the chair came on then I got to reline down they came out and zip tied the batteries told me not to recline changed the Stirrup step foot plate the foot plate would scrape my floor so I had to keep it up to get around the house tried getting through my front door and I would spin out so they came out took the foot plate off this has been a year still no right size chair for me Medicare and I done three way calls to the company they said they are working on a chair for then it’s corporate office then it’s my fault I have stuck in my house since January 29,2017 this company is screwing up and now we have laws to protect them when myself I didn’t plan on this on happening to me but I know if they did this to me how many others I’ve talked to lawyers no one wants to help medicare has told me that I need a letter from them because it has been 14 months I need a letter saying this chair is mine and I need a doctor note stating this chair is not right for me I can go to another company …please law makers spend a month being disabled in a chair see things from our view
UNREAL THAT THE LARGEST MINORITY IN THIS COUNTY IS THE MOST UNDERSERVED! IT’S HARD ENOUGH WHAT WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH ON A DAILY BASIS A HANDICAPPED PERSON, BUT TO BE UNDERMINED BY OUR OWN COUNTY AT THE SAME TIME IS JUST A SLAP IN OUR AMERICAN FACES.