Hanson calls on Kevin Cramer to protect the rights of persons with disabilities

House likely to vote soon on H.R. 620, which would weaken the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The House Committee on the Judiciary recently approved a bill that would place excessive burdens on individuals with disabilities while taking away incentives for public accommodations to comply with the ADA. Under current law, businesses, schools and other establishments are required to be accessible and, if the public accommodation is not accessible, a fine must be paid. Under H.R. 620, public accommodations would no longer be required to be accessible and would not have to pay a fine if the accommodation is not accessible.

“For over a quarter-century, the ADA has protected the civil rights of individuals with disabilities,” said Ben Hanson. “Despite those protections, our families, friends and neighbors with disabilities still face numerous barriers to equal access. If anything, Congress should be making fixes around the edges of the ADA to strengthen the law, not weaken it. I’m calling on Kevin Cramer to listen to the more than 230 Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities organizations and their allies — including the North Dakota Protection & Advocacy Project — and protect the ADA by opposing H.R. 620 when it comes to a vote.”

Under the ADA, if a person with a disability confronts a barrier to access, the person may either: (1) speak with the establishment; (2) file a complaint to the Department of Justice; or (3) file a lawsuit against the accommodation. H.R. 620 would prohibit a person with a disability from immediately going to court, delaying the process by six months and potentially years. This delay will likely discourage many people from following through on the process.

Proponents of H.R. 620 claim that the ADA exposes public accommodations to monetary liabilities from lawsuits. In reality, though, the ADA does not allow for monetary damages if a public accommodation is not accessible to persons with disabilities. Rather, if a person successfully files a lawsuit, the only outcome is that the public accommodation must remove the barrier and pay attorney’s fees.