All right, listen up, folks, because this is really important. The media has been completely silent on this. The only way I found out is through the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) but that’s it. No articles, no news reports, nothing.
There’s a new bill up on the table (H.R. 620) that could keep businesses from not being penalized if they don’t follow the Americans with Disabilities Act.
That’s a mouthful of many contradictions so let me clarify:
The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990 and is one of the few actual pieces of legislation that disabled Americans have. It’s the big one, the reason there are elevators in buildings, the reason there are ramps, the reason there are curbcuts, the reason there are options for Braille or subtitles, the reason service dogs need to be allowed into a building, the reason accessible parking exists, the reason accessible bathroom stalls exist, the reason you can’t be fired based on your disability, etc. etc. etc.
People, especially businesses, have been getting away with loopholes for years. But there’s always been some sort of enforcement in place, penalizing businesses who don’t adhere to the ADA.
This bill gets rid of that accountability.
This bill sets forward specific requirements (such as a disabled person having to make a formal claim before a building is investigated) that one has to follow before a business is penalized. If nobody is able to meet those requirements, that business gets to get away with not following the ADA without having to change anything or face any legal/monetary consequences.
This bill could destroy everything that the ADA stands for and make the nation even more inaccessible/unaccommodating than it already is.
And I know what you’re thinking. “Oh, that dastardly Trump, he mocked that reporter once, I guess this makes sense.”
And no, no, it’s so much worse than that reporter, it’s always been worse than that, we’ve been trying to tell you for over a year and none of you listened. This isn’t just about him being ignorant or prejudiced.
An article from almost a year ago that most of the world ignored.
Other members of congress have been sued as well. And now, rather than fix the problems, they’re all trying to secretly pass a bill that makes it so that they can no longer be held accountable for not following the ADA, letting hundreds of thousands of businesses get away with it as a result.
Don’t let them get away with it!
Signal boost the hell out of this. Send it to your news sources. Call your representatives. The world’s already inaccessible enough. Don’t let it get worse. Don’t let them lose their accountability.
