Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, Chair of the New York State Assembly Committee on People with Disabilities, is joining national disability-rights organizations in sounding the alarm over a new federal effort to remove community-integration protections from federal Section 504 regulations.

On August 31st, the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with Texas, Florida and Alaska, filed a proposed resolution in Texas v. Kennedy. The proposal asks the federal court to vacate references to community integration throughout HHS regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, including the entire integration provision. It does not seek to remove other portions of the 2024 HHS Section 504 rule.

National disability-rights organizations issued a joint statement on September 1st strongly condemning the federal action and warning against efforts to turn back progress on disability rights, autonomy and community integration. 

“We’ve spent decades expanding choice, independence and opportunity for people with disabilities,” Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara said. “I’m not going to stand by and watch that progress be put at risk. We have come too far to go backward.”

Santabarbara first called for a review of New York’s disability-rights protections following the Department of Justice’s June 18th legal opinion questioning long-standing federal interpretations of community-integration requirements. He subsequently sent a formal letter to the New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities requesting a review of New York’s protections and whether additional state-level safeguards should be considered.

Today, Santabarbara is sending a follow-up letter to OPWDD asking the agency to include the August 31st federal court action in that review and determine whether it creates additional risks or gaps in New York’s protections. 

“What began with a troubling federal legal opinion in June has now moved into the courtroom,” Assemblyman Santabarbara said. “That’s why I asked New York to look at our protections before we reached this point. Now I’m asking OPWDD to examine this latest action and make sure we’re prepared. If there are gaps in New York’s protections, we need to identify them and be ready to act.”

The national disability organizations emphasized that the proposed resolution does not itself change the ADA or Section 504 and cannot change longstanding legal precedent. They noted that federal Section 504 regulations have contained integration provisions since 1977.

Santabarbara said the concern is what weakening federal community-integration protections could mean for the future of community-based services and the ability of people with disabilities to make choices about where and how they receive services.

“This is about protecting choice, independence and the progress we’ve made toward community living,” Santabarbara added. “Rights are worth protecting before they’re weakened, not after.”