by Rochelle Haynes
After several years of lobbying by United Spinal and many other disability groups, the New York State Senate finally seems to be on the path toward passing legislation that would incorporate Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 into New York State Human Rights Law.
Senate Bill 5803, which was introduced on January 7, 2004, is legislation that would clarify the scope of protections against discrimination on the basis of disability under the New York State Human Rights Law in the areas of employment, public accommodations and government services. The bill is being sponsored by Senator Nicholas A. Spano and co-sponsored by Senators George D. Maziarz and Thomas W. Libous, who is Chairman of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Committee.
More specifically, Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by public entities, such as state and local governments. Under Title II, state and local governments and any of their departments or agencies are required to make reasonable modifications to their policies, practices, and procedures that deny equal access to people with disabilities. They must ensure the program accessibility of all their facilities, except for existing buildings, which do not need to be fully accessible- although their programs must be. In addition, all unnecessary eligibility standards that deny people with disabilities an opportunity to participate in program services must be eliminated and most importantly, their activities need to take place in an integrated setting.
The New York State Human Rights Law includes some, but not all of the ADA’s protections for people with disabilities. By conforming the state statute to the ADA, it will clarify the obligations of government officials to take reasonable steps to ensure that programs and activities are available to constituents with disabilities. The New York State Assembly has passed Title II legislation many times, but without Senate approval, the bill has repeatedly died during each legislative session.
Currently, there is companion legislation in the Assembly that mirrors the Senate Title II bill: Assembly Bill 5468-A, which was introduced by Assemblyman Kevin A. Cahill.
In 1997, New York State became a national leader by incorporating the ADA’s reasonable accommodation requirements in the workplace into the Human Rights law. Now, it is time for the state to incorporate the ADA’s reasonable accommodation requirements for government entities into Human Rights Law as well.
Please write and call your State Senate representatives, urging their support of Senate Bill 5803, which would ensure accessibility of employment, public accommodations and government services to people with disabilities. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me in the Government Relations department at 718-803-3782, ext. 299, or e-mail: rhaynes@unitedspinal.org.
Rochelle Haynes is a Legislative Analyst.
