ADA Amendments Act of 2008 - Negotiations Leading To The ADAAA

Negotiations Leading To The ADAAA

The coalition of advocates from the business and disability communities that spearheaded the efforts to pass the ADAAA first came together on February 19, 2008. That initial group consisted of representatives from the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the National Disabilities Rights Network (NDRN), the Epilepsy Foundation (EF), the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and the HR Policy Association (HR Policy). Each group entered the negotiations by signing a document indicating its understanding that any agreement reached would be defended and maintained by all of the groups. Modifications and amendments to the draft bill were permitted only by mutual agreement.

The negotiating group met almost weekly from February through May 2008. Both the disability and business negotiators consistently checked back with a much broader group of disability and business advocates throughout the process. The key negotiators for the disability group were Andy Imparato (AAPD); Sandy Finucane (EF); Chai Feldblum (Georgetown Law, on behalf of EF); Jennifer Mathis (Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law); John Lancaster (NICL); and Curt Decker (NDRN). Former Representative Tony Coelho and Nancy Zirkin from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights also provided political counsel throughout the process. The business negotiators were led by Mike Eastman and Randal Johnson (Chamber), assisted by Larry Lorber (Proskauer Rose); Mike Aitken and Mike Layman (SHRM); Mike Peterson (HR Policy); and Jeri Gillepsie (NAM). Tim Bartl (HR Policy) and Camille Olson (Seyfarth Shaw) also provided political and legal counsel to the business negotiators. Cheryl Sensenbrenner, Board Chair of AAPD, was involved throughout the process.

The negotiating group reached a final agreement on May 13, 2008. That agreement formed the basis for a Congressional agreement and substitute to the earlier version of H.R. 3195. The substitute was renamed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA). H.R. 3195 subsequently passed by wide margins in the House Education and Labor Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, and passed the House of Representatives on June 25, 2008, by a vote of 402 Ayes, 17 Nays, 15 Present/Not Voting.

The coalition was tested in July 2008 when Senators Tom Harkin and Orrin Hatch proposed a new definition of “substantially limits.” Representatives from the disability and business communities came back together in an effort to agree on a compromise that would address the concerns expressed by the Senators. A new resolution was reached in which the definition of “substantially limits” was dropped entirely. In its place, additional findings and purposes were added.

This agreement became the basis of S. 3406, which passed the Senate by unanimous consent on September 11, 2008. The House of Representatives followed suit one week later, and the President signed the ADAAA into the law on September 25, 2008.

For a full list of the many individuals and groups who worked on the ADAAA, from the disability, civil rights, and business communities, see the Statement by Majority Leader Hoyer on September 17, 2008.