[4Alabama] Advocacy and Policy Update

[Jennifer Reeves]

Advocacy and Policy Update:

On August 21, we gained four new House cosponsors for the Access Technology
Affordability Act (H.R. 2086):

Buddy Carter of Georgia

Ralph Abraham of Louisiana

Vicky Hartzler of Missouri

Bradley Byrne of Alabama



This brings our total House cosponsor count to 125. Special thanks to the
Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, and Alabama affiliates for working hard to
get these four representatives. ATAA also has twenty-four cosponsors for
the Senate companion bill, S. 815. These numbers are fantastic, but we must
continue to build support for both of these bills in order to get ATAA
completely across the finish line. Please continue to contact your members
of Congress. If you need to find out who to contact in your member’s
office, please email Jesa Medders at jmedders at nfb.org.



While you’re talking with your senators, you might also bring up our
opposition to including the Americans with Disabilities Act in Section 181
of the SAFE TO WORK Act (S. 4317). In a related note, you might have
recently heard about a “skinny” COVID-19 relief proposal in the Senate.
Unfortunately, this legislation, which is being proposed as an amendment
intended to replace the text of an older bill (S. 178), also contains the
same language as the SAFE TO WORK Act. Please tell your senators that you
also oppose the inclusion of the ADA in Section 1181 of the Delivering
Immediate Relief to America’s Families, Schools, and Small Businesses Act.



Finally, as you may already know, Sami’s Law (H.R. 4686) passed the House
with no objection on July 29. This means that we are one step closer to
having it become law, but we need to boost Senate support. Please let your
senators know that you strongly support Sami’s Law (H.R. 4686), and the
improvements it will bring to rideshare safety for all Americans, and urge
that they support it as well when it is considered in the Senate.