Disability rights
advocates have long been willing to cross the aisle. The Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 stands out as a model of bipartisan law-making. Reagan
appointees in the National Council on Disability helped draft the legislation. A
Republican senator and a Democratic congressman first sponsored the bill. It
passed the Democratic-controlled Senate and House of Representatives by high
margins—78 to 8 and 377 to 28 respectively—before being signed into law by a
Republican president. Early signs seem to indicate that this degree of bipartisan
support for disability rights may be eroding in the Trump era. Proposed
legislation like the American Health Care Act (“TrumpCare”) and the ADA
Education and Reform Act of 2017 threaten to roll back the legal protections
for people with disabilities. Has America’s longstanding history of bipartisan
disability rights finally come to an end? This panel will explore whether the
ADA could pass in the current polarized political climate. It also looks to the
future asking how we might build consensus across parties to further not only
disability rights but also civil rights generally.
Business
meeting at program conclusion.