From the NCIL Weekly Advocacy Monitor, November 23, 2011
On November 17, both the House and the Senate discussed Transportation legislation, but the Senate discussion focused entirely on issues that affect persons with disabilities.
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) Chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing titled The Americans with Disabilities Act and Accessible Transportation: Challenges and Opportunities. The expert witness panel included David M. Capozzi, Executive Director of the U.S. Access Board in Washington, D.C.; Marca Bristo, President and CEO of Access Living in Chicago, IL; Billy W. Altom, Executive Director of the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL); and Jill Houghton, Executive Director of the U.S. Business Leadership Network in Washington, D.C.
This hearing was held to discuss the challenges facing advocates and lawmakers with implementing and improving existing laws. Senator Harkin opened the hearing with a brief statement about how the ADA does not address air transportation because of the Air Carrier Access Act. He discussed New York City recently opting out of purchasing accessible taxi cabs and making their taxi system 100% accessible. Senator Harkin then spoke about broad areas of concern about transportation for the cross-disability community.
Each witness provided a written statement, answered questions from Senator Harkin, and then closed the hearing with advice for future action. Senator Harkin was fascinated by the areas of concern and the work that needs to be done. The witnesses then shared personal stories about their interactions with forms of American transportation and provided the Committee with informed policy recommendations for improving transportation legislation soon. All of the testimonies, the webcast and transcript of the hearing can be found at the Senate HELP committee website.
Later in the day, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), along with the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-FL), National Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA), and Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH) held a news conference to "announce plans for the House to consider a surface transportation reauthorization bill, later this year". Representative Stivers has been tasked with finding transportation funding offsets. The news conference was an opportunity to lay out the plans for taking action with a timetable on the House action for the reauthorization process.
The record for the HELP Committee hearing will remain open for 10 business days. Advocates may submit a statement to the Committee. The NCIL Transportation Subcommittee is working on a statement to be entered into the record, but encourages our membership to submit statements as well. NCIL staff will continue to follow the work of both the House and Senate and update the membership accordingly. Please contact Dara Baldwin, Policy Analyst at dara@ncil.org with questions or for instructions for submitting a statement.