The Americans with Disabilities Act is – shockingly – not state law. With enough advocacy, that could be corrected by July. The State Senate has before it the Floridians with Disabilities Act. Senator Mike Fasano [Dist. 11] introduced the bill, S2396, days before the 60-day state legislative session began on 3/2. Chief Legislative Assistant Greg Giordano explained in a press release what it will do if passed.
President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
into law 20 years ago this summer. In one of the highlights of his administration,
President Bush ensured that people with disabilities would be granted certain
protections not previously enjoyed. Now, Senator Mike Fasano has filed legislation
to ensure that Floridians
with disabilities be given those same protections.
Senator Fasano has filed what has been dubbed the Floridian’s With Disabilities
Act. The legislation, to be considered during the 2010 legislative session,
expands protections for individuals with developmental and other disabilities.
At the request of the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities, Senator Fasano
agreed to sponsor this landmark legislation which will promote awareness of
barriers that individuals with disabilities face. Additionally, the legislation
will ensure that accommodations provided by the ADA are extended to disabled
Floridians.
“It
is imperative that individuals with disabilities be treated fairly and with
dignity,” Senator Fasano states. “This legislation will make certain
that the federal ADA is the law of Florida as well. Too many people with disabilities
still face barriers and it is long past the time to correct them.”
In addition to the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities, early support
for the bill has been expressed by the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities,
The Arc of Florida, the Florida Gulf Coast Paralyzed Veterans of America and
our own CFPVA. The 2010 session of the legislature began on March 2, so time
is fast approaching for consideration of the bill.
“The
legislation will bring attention to the needs of individuals with disabilities
and hopefully will encourage any remaining barriers to be removed,” Senator
Fasano states. “There is no time like the present to ensure that Florida
is in full compliance with federal law.”
Section
10. Section 760.15, Florida Statutes, is created to read:
760.15 Floridians with Disabilities Act.—
(1)The
Legislature finds that, while the federal Americans with Disabilities Act applies
to state and local government agencies and to many private entities within this
state, there remain many barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from
accessing the full range of public and private programs and services otherwise
available in this state to persons without disabilities.
(2)The
Legislature therefore intends to promote a greater awareness by the state’s
public and private entities of their obligations under the federal act by enacting
the Americans with Disabilities Act as the law of this state, and to thereby
make the civil and administrative remedies of the Florida Civil Rights Act of
1992 available to redress violations of the federal act.
(3)The
federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended by the Americans
with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008, is adopted as the law of this state
and made part of the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992, to be administered by
the Florida Commission on Human Relations.
(4)The
provisions of this part, including the civil and administrative remedies for
alleged violations, apply to this section, unless expressly exempted.
(5)An
individual may not seek relief under this section if that individual has commenced
an action in state or federal court under the federal Americans with Disabilities
Act.
(6)This
section does not expand substantive protections against discrimination based
on disability beyond those provided in the federal Americans with Disabilities
Act or in other sections of state law.
Patrick McCallister
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