[Iabs-talk] Excerpt from President Riccobono's Notebook - Legislation

[denise avant]

Hello all,

The following was taken from President Riccobono's notebook. Please take
action. Thanks for all you do.


Critical Actions This Week:


Legislative Alert:
H.R. 620, the ADA Education and Reform Act, will be voted on in committee
(referred to as markup) over the next week or two. If passed, this
legislation will dramatically weaken the ADA, hindering education,
employment, and community participation for all people with disabilities.
The bill prevents people with disabilities from filing a lawsuit regarding
an ADA violation until the person first notifies the violator. The violator
then has 60 days to respond and then has another 120 days to remedy the
problem, for a total delay of 180 days.




Does it make sense to wait 180 days for accessible instructional material?
By then, the class will be over. How about waiting 180 days for an
accessible job application? By then the job will be filled. How about
waiting 180 days at the doctor's office for an accessible check-in kiosk?
Furthermore, this legislation will do nothing to stop so-called frivolous
lawsuits, which will still be valid under state law. Businesses do not need
more time to comply with the ADA-they have had twenty-seven years already.

 

Please call your representative and urge them to oppose H.R. 620, the ADA
Education and Reform Act. And if your representative has not cosponsored one
of our other three bills, also urge them to do so. Congress will be back in
session for the next two weeks but please try to make your calls and send
your emails by Friday, June 22. A short summary of each bill is included
below. I have also included a list of all the current cosponsors. The best
way to contact your member of Congress is to call the Capitol Switchboard at
(202) 224-3121 and ask for the office in question. Emailing your member of
Congress is also a good idea. If you do so, please copy JPare at nfb.org
<mailto:JPare at nfb.org> . 




It is critical that we shut down H.R. 620. In addition, we are hoping to
significantly raise the number of cosponsors on all of our bills before
convention but we cannot do it without everyone working together. Your calls
and emails make a big difference. 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denise R. Avant, President

National Federation of the Blind of Illinois

Live the life you want.

For more information about NFBI, 

Go to www.nfbofillinois.org.