House bill 620 – the Americans with Disability Act of 2017

The cowardice and lack of integrity of the Republican Party was on full display yesterday when the House passed the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017 that effectively gutted disability rights in this country. This bill was passed the day after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida – a day that the House could have stood up and courageously passed a gun control law restricting the sale of AR-15’s, they instead passed a stand alone bill that restricts the rights of the disabled to sue for discrimination in the workplace.
Here is what the bill does:
The disabled, on their own, have to file a complaint that gives businesses 60 days to devise a plan to mitigate the discriminatory practice in question. The businesses then have 120 days to implement the plan – only after those six months (of continuing discrimination) can a lawsuit be brought. The new law eliminates the requirements for businesses to be ADA access compliant. There are presently 53 million adults who have a disability and the weight is now on them to bring action against a business that does not provide access to the workplace.
Here is a list of Pennsylvania Representatives who voted for this abomination that they are ludicrously naming the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017:
• Kelly – 3rd district
• Perry – 4th district
• Shuster – 9th district
• Meehan – 7th district
• Marino – 10th district
• Rothfus – 12th district
• Dent – 15th district
• Smucker – 1th district
If you live in one of those districts, you are being represented by a person that has no regard for the rights of the disabled. Please contact these clowns and let them know where you stand – think again if you have voted for them in the past and let them know that. Take action, please. Of course this is supported by Trump and Paul Ryan – neither of these clowns has distinguished himself as a profile in courage. HB 620 is not yet law – it must go to the Senate but if approved there, this will become law of the land. You can easily predict that our Pennsylvania Senator, Pat Toomey, will support this bill. It’s diminishment of disabled rights is part of his M.O.