My friend, Mikail, is appearing before the State House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee to testify IN FAVOR OF House Bill 849, aka the 'ADA Bill'. For those of you unfamiliar with the issue, Texas claims legal immunity from the American with Disabilities Act (ADA)--what's really mind-boggling to some of us with disabilities is that our current Attorney General, Greg Abbott supports the state's stance.
Mikail offered a good description of the proposed legislation that he kindly shared with me and those of you reading this. Thanks Mikail!
HB 849 – Guaranteeing that Texans have the basic civil right of freedom from discrimination by the State of Texas based on disability
Background
The greatest paradigm shifting achievement of 20th century America is the enactment of federal civil rights laws that codified the Declaration of Independence’s promise that all men are created equal.
The Americans with Disabilities Act is landmark federal civil rights legislation, signed into law by a Texas president, George H. W. Bush, in 1990, that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, public services, public accommodations, telecommunications, and other specific arenas. It mandates that “reasonable accommodations” be made for people with disabilities in all these areas and more.
A few states, including Texas, assert that the Eleventh Amendment of the United States Constitution grants all states sovereign immunity from suit under the ADA. Some federal courts have ruled that state governments are immune from suit while others have struck down state sovereign immunity in cases of disability discrimination. In each case, the rulings have been narrowly drawn. So people with disabilities who experience discrimination on the part of a state entity have very little recourse if those entities refuse to make reasonable accommodations for them.
Example 1: A professor at Texas Tech University became ill with a degenerative eye disease which left her visually impaired. She asked the administration to place high-contrast reflective tape on the edges of the stairs in her building so she could safely navigate to her office. Tech refused. She sued. They fired her. Years of litigation ensued.
Cost of a roll of reflective tape: about $40
Example 2: A student at A&M uses a wheelchair. He has a class in a large auditorium which is only accessible from the second floor, which means he is seated a long way from the whiteboard on which the professor writes class notes. The professor likes to use a pale green marker, which is impossible to read from far away. The student requests that the professor use a darker marker so he can see. The professor refuses.
Cost of a black dry-erase marker: about $1.50
What the bill does:
- Waives Texas’ immunity from lawsuit for the limited purpose of allowing people to sue governmental units in Texas for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Places limitations on the damages that may be awarded – a maximum of $250,000 per person and $500,000 per single occurrence.
- Provides people with disabilities the opportunity to pursue the reasonable accommodations guaranteed to them under the ADA.
What the bill does NOT do:
- Require a governmental unit to provide an individual with a disability with a personal or individually prescribed device (e.g., wheelchair, hearing aid), or with services of a personal nature such as assistance in eating or dressing.
- Require a governmental unit to make changes or adjustments to a program that would result in significant difficulties or expenses relative to the operation of the program
- Open the door for massive lawsuits that will bankrupt the state. The liability limits are built-in and are reasonable in size.
The bottom line: This is a civil rights bill.
Thanks, Ann. I love your site. And Oscar!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Mikail