White House Launches Celebration Of 20th Anniversary Of Americans With Disabilities Act

Sunday night, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama, kicked off the President’s and White House’s celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act while delivering remarks to over 2,000 people from around the World at the VSA International Festival at the Kennedy Center. Valerie’s remarks, which you can find below, noted the significance of this historic landmark civil rights legislation, highlighted some of the President’s initiatives thus far related to people with disabilities and previewed that senior administration officials will be commemorating this historic anniversary in the weeks to come with new policies and events.

Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com

Future Amendments to ADA

On September 16, 2009, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted to approve a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [HTML] | [PDF] to conform its ADA regulations to the Amendments Act of 2008. The NPRM was published in the Federal Register on September 23, 2009. The Commission has also issued a question and answer guide on the NPRM. Below is a summary of the changes made by the Amendments Act, which became effective on January 1, 2009. You may continue to check this space for periodic updates.

http://www.eeoc.gov/ada/amendments_notice.html

Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com

People With Disabilities Lose Advocate - Ted Kennedy

During his tenure in the Senate (46 years), Sen. Ted Kennedy was crucial in establishing and supporting key legislation that benefit people with disabilities. Here are a few:

• In 1978, Kennedy co-sponsored Civil Rights Commission Act Amendments, which expanded the jurisdiction of the Civil Rights Commission to protect people from discrimination on the basis of disability.

• Kennedy introduced the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990. The bill was designed to prohibit employers from discriminating in job hiring and in the workplace against people who had a disability.

• His vote helped break a Republican filibuster against a bill that blocked cuts in Medicare payments to doctors.

• Supported a bill that required pharmaceutical companies to negotiate prescription drug prices covered under Medicare Part D.

• Voted for expanding the enrollment period for Medicare.

• Kennedy called for extending Medicare coverage to all Americans, medical coverage for the uninsured and modernizing health care systems by using new technologies to cut costs.
  

• Sponsored the Family Opportunity Act of 2006, allowing states to expand Medicaid coverage to children with special needs.

• Sponsored the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1996.

• In 1997, he rallied for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) under which uninsured children from low-income families could get insurance.

Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com

ADA Amendments Act PASSES!

On Wednesday, September 17, the U. S. House of Representatives passed the the ADA Amendments Act (S.3406) by voice vote under a unanimous consent procedure. The House passed bill is identical to the bill passed unanimously in the Senate the previous week. The measure now goes to the White House where it is expected to be signed into law soon by President Bush. This bill is intended to restore lost protections within the ADA stemming from decisions by several federal courts which narrowed disability discrimination coverage.

Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com

Celebrate The ADA - Thur., July 24th!!!!

4:00 to 7:00 pm

Lindenwood Park

Fargo, ND

CELEBRATE THE 18^th ANNIVERSARY

OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

Commemorative Walk to

Support the ADA

FREE PICNIC

Join our community at the Rotary Universal Playground at Lindenwood Park where people

of all abilities will come together

to celebrate the ADA

For questions, call Freedom at 701-478-0459

ADA to Turn 18

As we approach the 18^th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) I'd like to bring to your attention some recent developments relating to DisabilityInfo.gov. This Web site, a collaborative effort among twenty-two federal agencies, was developed to provide access to information and resources that enable people with disabilities to fully participate in the workforce and in their communities. DisabilityInfo.gov contains comprehensive information on cross-cutting issue areas including employment, benefits, housing, transportation, health care, education, civil rights and technology.

Over the past couple of months more than 2,000 new links to state-level resources have been added to DisabilityInfo.gov. The site’s enhanced State and Local Resources Map now offers even greater access to information about programs and services available in the states and communities where individuals with disabilities live, work, attend school or are seeking employment. The State & Local Resources Map is located in each of the site’s nine key subject areas. You may begin a search of resources in your state simply by clicking on the map in the Employment section of the site: http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/digov-public/public/DisplayPage.do?parentFolderId=9.

Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com

ADA Gets a Makeover

Tuesday, June 17, 2008, the proposed regulations were published in the Federal Register. The proposed regulations consist of a notice of proposed rule making to amend the ADA regulations for State and local governments, a notice of proposed rule making to amend the ADA regulations for public accommodations and commercial facilities, a Regulatory Impact Analysis, and two supporting appendices.

(The synopsis below, written by Robert Pear of the New York Times on June 16, is a portion of his article providing an overview and summary of the proposed changes.)

Sweeping ADA Update Would Affect Millions
The new rules would set more stringent requirements in many areas and address some issues for the first time, in an effort to meet the needs of an aging population and growing numbers of disabled war veterans.

The proposed rules, under development for more than four years, flesh out the meaning of the 1990 law, which set forth broad objectives. The 215,000-word proposal includes these new requirements:

¶Courts would have to provide a lift or a ramp to ensure that people in wheelchairs could get into the witness stand, which is usually elevated from floor level.

¶Auditoriums would have to provide a lift or a ramp so wheelchair users could "participate fully and equally in graduation exercises and other events" at which members of the audience have direct access to the stage.

¶Any sports stadium with a seating capacity of 25,000 or more would have to provide safety and emergency information by posting written messages on scoreboards and video monitors. This would alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

¶Theaters must provide specified numbers of seats for wheelchair users (at least five in a 300-seat facility). Viewing angles to the screen or stage must be "equivalent to or better than the average viewing angles provided to all other spectators."

¶Light switches in a hotel room could not be more than 48 inches high. The current maximum is 54 inches.

¶Hotels must allow people with disabilities to reserve accessible guest rooms, and they must honor these reservations to the same degree they guarantee other room reservations.

¶At least 25 percent of the railings at fishing piers would have to be no more than 34 inches high, so that a person in a wheelchair could fish over the railing.

¶At least half of the holes on miniature golf courses must be accessible to people using wheelchairs, and these holes must be connected by a continuous, unobstructed path.

¶A new swimming pool with a perimeter of more than 300 feet would have to provide "at least two accessible means of entry," like a gentle sloping ramp or a chair lift.

¶New playgrounds would have to provide access to slides, swings and other play equipment for children who use wheelchairs.


Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com