2019 Virginia General Assembly
Legislative Highlights
February 7, 2019
Here’s the latest on proposed bills that would impact the rights of people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and under general employment laws:
HB 1786 (Hurst) seeks to bring Virginia law into alignment with the ADA as it applies to “other power-driven mobility devices.” The bill was approved by the House and by the Senate Committee on Transportation. We expect passage in the Senate.
HB 2094 (Guzman) would have created a hiring preference for people with disabilities in state government. The bill was assigned to the House Committee on General Laws but was never heard, so it died as of crossover.
SB 998 (Ebbin) prohibits discrimination in hiring for a number of classes, including disability, in state employment. Approved by the Senate and assigned to the House Committee on Rules. Based on the way that a similar bill was handled in the House, we do not expect this bill to receive a hearing in committee.
SB 1302 (Barker) and HB 2296 (Leftwich) seek to prevent people with disabilities from filing a lawsuit under the ADA when a credit union’s website is inaccessible to people with vision impairments. As amended, the bills create a 120 day delay after a lawsuit is filed, to give the credit unions additional time to make their websites accessible. The Senate bill was defeated in the Senate Courts of Justice, but the House bill was approved by the House. Although the Senate version was heard in Senate Courts, the House version is currently assigned to be heard by Senate Rehabilitation. It may be reassigned to Senate Courts.
SB 1636 (Boysko) prohibits discrimination in hiring against people with disabilities in private employment. The bill was “passed by indefinitely” in the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor.
The disAbility law Center of Virginia monitors developments in the legislature that may be of interest to people with disabilities. We are available to educate policy makers about the potential impact of legislative proposals. Please contact us at info@dlcv.org or by calling 1-800-552-3962 or 804-225-2042 if you know of something we should be following.
The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation.