H.R. 620: ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017
Feb 15, 2018 at 11:56 a.m. ET.
On Passage of the Bill in the House.
This was a vote to pass H.R. 620 (115th) in the House.
A bill which just passed the House would update the law for disabled Americans for modern times, say Republicans. Democrats say it would set disabled Americans’ civil rights back decades.
Context
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, more commonly called the ADA, was a landmark law. It outlawed discrimination in employment, housing, or other areas on the basis of the applicant being disabled. It also required most businesses and buildings to accommodate disabled people, with features such as mandatory wheelchair ramps.
The law’s components were hardly controversial among Congress members at the time, passing the House 377–28 and the Senate 91–6. Yet in the decades since, most Republicans contend that provisions of the law have been exploited by anti-business lawyers to an unforeseen extent — the number of such lawsuits has almost tripled since 2013. Three examples provided in an opinion column for the The Hill include:
- A Florida art supplies store sued for a toilet paper dispenser not placed at the correct height
- A Colorado restaurant sued for incorrect position of urinals in [...]