Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced that in honor of this year’s Legislative Disabilities Awareness Day, May 19th, the Assembly passed several measures to help improve the quality of life for New Yorkers with disabilities.

“New Yorkers living with disabilities deserve the same quality of life and rights as everyone else,” Assemblyman Thiele said. “The legislation passed by the Assembly is an important step toward removing unnecessary barriers that impact the day-to-day lives of many of our neighbors, friends and family members.”

Strengthening rights for New Yorkers with disabilities

The Assembly passed a series of bills to combat discrimination against those with disabilities. Specifically, these bills would:

• make it illegal to discriminate against a person with a service dog – whether they are training the dog or using it to aid with their disability; it would also make it a discriminatory housing practice to refuse occupancy or attempt to evict someone with a hearing impairment based on their use of a hearing dog (A.5788);
• clarify the definition of a “place of public accommodation, resort or amusement” in the Human Rights Law to include places owned or operated by state and local governments (A.2070);
• require that sign-language interpreters be made available upon the request of a hearing-impaired individual at public hearings and meetings, in addition to establishing provisions for assistive listening systems to be required in rooms used for public hearings that accommodate over 100 people (A.2826);
• ensure consideration of a treating physician’s opinion in determining work limitations, due to a disability or health issue, that might affect the individual’s compliance with public assistance work requirements (A.2960); and
• ensure that all state employees in New York state have equal protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (A.828).

“Too often, individuals with disabilities are denied basic rights that others take for granted,” Thiele said. “These include the right to attend public meetings, to live in a home you love, and to work in a safe and respectful environment. Everyone should be able to have these basic rights.”

Ensuring proper emergency preparedness

To help protect and assist people with disabilities during an emergency, the Assembly passed legislation that would:

• require every owner of a high-rise building to establish and maintain an emergency evacuation plan for disabled occupants and visitors; additionally, this bill would require those building owners to maintain and update the emergency evacuation plan for those with disabilities as necessary, and have it available to emergency personnel (A.8817-A);
• aid localities in preparing for and responding to disasters by requiring counties to maintain a confidential registry of people of all ages with disabilities who may require evacuation assistance and shelter during a disaster; provisions are included in this bill that would provide people the option to not be included in the registry (A.8816-A); and
• require counties and cities with populations of 1 million or more to adopt comprehensive emergency management plans, including plans for the deployment of home health and hospice personnel in emergency situations (A.6530-A).

“Recent events like Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Irene have shown us the necessity of being prepared for emergency situations,” Assemblyman Thiele said. “We need to make sure that plans and procedures are in place to assist all people during potentially life-threatening situations.”

Creating equal access to voting

Also part of the package is legislation enabling blind and visually impaired registered voters to request Braille or large-print absentee ballots for all elections administered under the election law and education law to be sent to their homes (A.8815-A).

“The right to vote is a fundamental part of what it means to be a citizen and should not be limited for anyone due to a visual impairment or other disability,” Thiele said. “This bill would ensure that absentee ballots in Braille or large print are provided to those who need them.”

Aiding those who served our country

The Assembly also passed legislation to establish the New York State Interagency Coordinating Council for Service-Disabled Veterans. This council would be tasked with identifying the needs of our service-disabled veterans and efficiently matching these needs with appropriate state resources (A.6213-B).

“We are committed to providing better access to state programs for veterans with disabilities who have sacrificed so much for our country,” Assemblyman Thiele said. “This new council would help ensure veterans receive the support they deserve.”