Assemblywoman Kimberly Jean-Pierre (D-Babylon) announced that she helped pass a series of bills to help protect New Yorkers with disabilities from discrimination and expand access to critical resources and improve accessibility. The legislation was passed on May 30th in recognition of this year’s Legislative Disabilities Awareness Day.

“A disability shouldn’t prevent anyone from having their rights and personhood respected and protected, yet individuals with disabilities often encounter barriers that range from discrimination to difficulty staying in their home,” Jean-Pierre said. “This legislation affirms the right of individuals with disabilities to live full and independent lives.”

The legislation Jean-Pierre helped pass includes a measure to ensure New York State employees can exercise their rights 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.2546). Another measure requires that a physician’s opinion is taken into consideration when determining work limitations due to a disability or medical condition that could affect a person’s compliance with public assistance work requirements (A.3045). The Assembly also passed a bill to combat discrimination against New Yorkers with disabilities entering the workforce. The measure provides a tax credit to small businesses that hire an employee with a disability working at least 35 hours a week for a year or more (A.1369-A).

The legislative package also re-establishes the Office of the Advocate for People with Disabilities to ensure New Yorkers with disabilities are afforded equal opportunities and can live independently in their communities (A.10706). And to better assist veterans with service-related disabilities and help them gain access to appropriate state and local resources, Jean-Pierre helped pass legislation to establish the New York State Interagency Coordinating Council for Service-Disabled Veterans (A.5931).

Another bill combats inequality and housing discrimination by clarifying that the term “reasonable accommodation” includes the use of a service animal (A.7283). Measures to increase safety for people with disabilities during emergencies were also passed, including one requiring owners of high-rise buildings to establish an emergency evacuation plan and another requiring counties with local emergency management plans to maintain a confidential registry of residents with disabilities who may need assistance or shelter during a disaster (A.10201, A.6865).

Additionally, the Assembly passed two measures to provide tax credits for homeowners to make their homes more accessible so more people with disabilities can stay in their communities. The first tax credit would be for homeowners who retrofit their houses with qualified improvements, such as no-step entrances and grab bars in bathrooms and the second would be available for homeowners renovating or building homes with universal visitability design features (A.5333-A, A.10668). Further, the Assembly also passed a bill to help expand access to complex rehabilitation technology (CRT) so Medicaid patients with disabilities get the equipment they need (A.10604).