We only have one day to stop the House from voting to strip our civil rights away! The House will vote on H.R. 620 tomorrow, so we need to take action today! We need everyone to contact their Representative and urge them to vote NO on H.R. 620!

Contact your Representative today!

Call! All Representatives can be reached through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or (202) 224-3091 (TTY).

Tweet! Tag your Representative and use the hashtags #HandsOffMyADA and #StopHR620.

You can also:

• Use Resistbot to turn texts into faxes, mail, or hand-delivered letters.
• Use faxzero.com to find their fax number.
• Find additional contact information and direct numbers at contactingcongress.org.

Keep your message simple. Share your personal stories about how the ADA has helped you access to your community. Explain that H.R. 620 will make people wait months, or even years to be able to access our communities; and access delayed is access denied!

We cannot – and will not – let this happen without a fight. Our Representatives need to know that we are watching them, and that we will hold them accountable for their vote. They need to understand that their disabled constituents and the 57 million Americans with disabilities want to participate in their communities just like nondisabled people do – and it’s our right!

The clock is ticking – keep up the pressure!

Key Targets & Phone Numbers

It is important to contact all Representatives, but these are priority targets.  [Read more…]

The House of Representatives is planning to vote on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Education and Reform Act (H.R. 620) this Thursday, February 15!

Take Action Now!

Contact your Representative today and urge them to vote NO on H.R. 620. All Representatives can be reached through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or (202) 224-3091 (TTY). You can find additional contact information and direct numbers at contactingcongress.org. You can also use Resistbot to turn texts into faxes, mail, or hand-delivered letters, fax your members of Congress (use faxzero.com to find their fax number), or contact your Representative on social media with contact information from Contacting Congress.

Keep your message simple. Use the background information below to discuss the dangers of this bill, and share your personal stories about how the ADA provides you greater access to your community! And, let them know that their disabled constituents will be watching how they vote and will hold them accountable!

Note: All Representatives need to hear from us, but we have included a list of particularly important targets below.

Background Information

H.R. 620 would create additional barriers to seeing our rights enforced under the ADA and make it harder to participate in mainstream society. Importantly, H.R. 620 would not solve the problems it claims to address. It would not stop fraudulent lawsuits or demand letters, but it would weaken the civil rights of people with disabilities! Moreover, it would eliminate any reason for businesses to comply with the ADA unless they receive a legal notice first.  [Read more…]

The House of Representatives is planning to vote on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Education and Reform Act (H.R. 620) NEXT WEEK. Please, take action now!

See yesterday’s alert for more information.

CILs, SILCs, Associations, and other organizations: Please issue a press release and contact the press about H.R. 620! You can use and customize the template below.

Be sure to update the text in [brackets] throughout the template before release. The template is also available in Word and plain text.

Press Release Template

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

[PUT YOUR CIL CONTACT PERSON AND INFO HERE]

Disability Community to Hold Congress Accountable for Attacking the ADA

CITY, STATE — On Wednesday, February 7, 2018, the political action committee Disability Action for America released a statement in opposition of the so-called ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 620). This harmful legislation would undermine the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the landmark civil rights law for disabled Americans.

Do not be misled by the name of this bill; this bill is not an attempt to educate or reform, but an unabashed attempt by Congress to undermine the ADA and discriminate against individuals the ADA was meant to protect by allowing public accommodations to remain inaccessible. Furthermore, this bill would force people with disabilities to jump through bureaucratic hoops to secure the same rights that were promised to them under the ADA 28 years ago.  [Read more…]

The House of Representatives is planning to vote on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Education and Reform Act (H.R. 620) next week! That means we only have a week to stop this terrible bill.

Take Action Now!

Contact your Representative today and urge them to vote NO on H.R. 620. All Representatives can be reached through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or (202) 224-3091 (TTY). You can find additional contact information and direct numbers at contactingcongress.org. You can also use Resistbot to turn texts into faxes, mail, or hand-delivered letters, fax your members of Congress (use faxzero.com to find their fax number), or contact your Representative on social media with contact information from Contacting Congress.

Keep your message simple. Use the background information below to discuss the dangers of this bill, and share your personal stories about how the ADA provides you greater access to your community! And, let them know that their disabled constituents will be watching how they vote and will hold them accountable!

Note: All Representatives need to hear from us, but we have included a list of particularly important targets below.

Background Information

H.R. 620 would create additional barriers to seeing our rights enforced under the ADA and make it harder to participate in mainstream society. Importantly, H.R. 620 would not solve the problems it claims to address. It would not stop fraudulent lawsuits or demand letters, but it would weaken the civil rights of people with disabilities! Moreover, it would eliminate any reason for businesses to comply with the ADA unless they receive a legal notice first.  [Read more…]

Late in December, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) would rescind and remove more than two dozen guidance from the department websites. This process has begun and unfortunately we expect more guidance to be removed.

“Among the 25 revoked documents are a number of ADA-related items dating as far back as 1995 offering guidance on everything from service animals to accessible building practices as well as a 2016 letter on employment of people with disabilities.

Sessions called the revoked documents ‘improper or unnecessary’ and said they were outdated or went beyond what the law called for.” (Disability Scoop)

As soon as word was received this was happening, the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Rights Task Force worked on a letter expressing concern (PDF), which 236 organizations signed on to. NCIL was one of the signatories and regularly participates along with CCD and other advocates in Washington. Share this letter with your representatives!

A meeting was set with CCD and the DOJ Office for Civil Rights, which was held earlier this month. Basically, the feeling was DOJ staff said thanks for coming, and not much more. A meeting will be held in the near future to consider next steps.

This is not exclusive to DOJ in the current Administration. Documents have been rescinded at the Department of Housing & Urban Development and the Department of Transportation as the Administration seeks to roll back our rights.

Let’s unite and continue pushing for our rights!

Parking experts, advocacy groups for people with disabilities, state and federal agencies, and academics have formed a coalition to address a wide range of issues

ALEXANDRIA, VA – According to a preview of a national survey to be released in early 2018, 96 percent of responding people with disabilities feel the ability to find parking is an important factor in leading an independent life, yet more than one-third have problems finding accessible parking on any given day.

The most significant problems are created by drivers without disabilities who park illegally in accessible parking spots or obstruct access by parking too close to a vehicle, making it impossible for drivers with disabilities to exit or enter their vehicle. Many other challenges are reported.

About 80 percent of respondents believe accessible parking fraud and disabled placard abuse is widespread, and even more believe law enforcement of disabled-parking regulations is inadequate or non-existent.

“The more we learn, the more it is clear there is rampant disabled placard abuse that contributes to inadequate parking availability for the people who need it most,” says Shawn Conrad, CAE, CEO of the International Parking Institute. “The Accessible Parking Coalition will be dedicated to changing that, as well as addressing other challenges related to accessible parking for people with disabilities.”  [Read more…]

Over the past two years, the media and the country have taken note of the disability community’s massive political interest and power. In 2016, the #CripTheVote and #RevUp campaigns created spaces for the disability community to rally as a voting bloc. More recently, ADAPT made headlines nationwide for their summer protests of repeal bills for the Affordable Care Act. Now that 2017 and its local and state elections are over, all eyes are looking toward 2018 midterms and how the disability community will impact those elections. However, the bigger question is: what still needs to be fixed before 2018 to ensure that people with disabilities have the same access to the vote as non-disabled voters?

Unfortunately, voting access hasn’t grown as the same rate as recognition of voters with disabilities. Recently, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released their survey of polling places during the 2016 election. This survey found that of the polling places they studied, 60 percent of polling places had barriers outside the polling place that could impede a disabled voter’s access to the vote. Inside, 65 percent of the polling places they surveyed had at least one impediment to casting a ballot for people with disabilities. Despite laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) that mandate accessibility for polling places, compliance with these laws and voting access in general still has a long way to go to achieve true accessibility. Sadly, this statistic isn’t surprising, as a study performed at Rutgers University in 2012 found that during the presidential election, over 30 percent of voters with disabilities surveyed encountered at least one difficulty in casting their ballot, while only 8.4 percent of voters without disabilities encountered difficulty. There is still a massive disparity in voting access for people with disabilities.  [Read more…]

Coalition Calls for Disability Support of Pro-Immigrant Policy and Programs

The National Disability Leadership Alliance, of which NCIL is a proud member organization, calls on the United States Congress to develop and pass into law the DREAM Act, legislation that would restore protections and services under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The DACA Program gives around 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children the opportunity to work and study in this country without the threat of deportation. Recipients of DACA have registered with the United States, submitted to deep background checks, and are engaging with their communities.

DACA is critical for immigrants with disabilities. Some immigrants with disabilities are in the United States in order to receive disability related supports and care that are not available in their country of origin. Without the program, DACA recipients who are disabled immigrants face the threat of medical deportation. Also, some DACA recipients are home care workers or personal assistants, providing critical support for people with disabilities. Without that support, people with disabilities would lose their link to live in their own homes instead of institutions. Read more at disabilityleadership.org.