The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is not a quota bill and it will not impose undue hardship on businesses, according to the chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.
Justin Dart was in Salt Lake City this week for a forum to explain the act to Utah business leaders. The two-day event is sponsored by the Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.During a speech at the Red Lion Inn on Friday night, Dart congratulated activists who helped pass the new law, calling it a landmark not just for America but for the disabled throughout the world.
"We have overcome the most powerful lobbies in this nation," he said of those who fought for passage. He called them a tiny, rag-tag army led by a handful of brilliant patriots.
Passage of the act carried with it a terrific responsibility that will dominate the lives of those involved, he said. "If the promise of ADA is not kept . . . the cause of empowerment (of the disabled) will be set back in America and all the other nations."
The dinner speech, which drew hundreds of Utah's disabled activists and their friends, was sponsored by the Legislative Coalition for People with Disabilities.
The law guarantees access to public buildings, equal employment opportunities, access to public transportation and telephone communication systems. Last year, President Bush estimated the cost of excluding people with disabilities from the work force at $200 billion each year.
During an earlier meeting, Dart said, "There is nothing that requires a person to pay more than a tiny fraction of the $200 billion it now costs us to discriminate. ADA doesn't require the hiring of anyone who is not the best person for the job.
"It doesn't require changing existing buildings. That's required only at the time of new construction or extensive remodeling, when it won't be more expensive. It does not require an abrupt change or punitive expenditures. It does not have to be expensive - although it could be.
"If we don't cooperate, there will be a more expensive law with more restrictions. We who have disabilities want jobs and not lawsuits."
Dart has used a wheelchair since he contracted polio as a teenager. He has served in five positions appointed by presidents, one by Congress and five by governors in setting disability policy.
He told local businessmen they should not "rush out and spend a lot of money" to comply with the ADA. Don't make changes, he said, until the law has been fully interpreted. The best preparation is for business owners and people with disabilities to get to know each other and to share fears and goals.
"The cost of accommodating people with disabilities is an open and creative mind," Dart said. "It is not going to be easy. It is important."
More than 43 million Americans have a disability. Most are unemployed and have experienced the effects of discrimination. Fewer people with disabilities - only 33 percent - were employed in 1988 than in the '70s, he said. As the numbers of people with disabilities continues to grow, most families are personally affected.
"Business must take the lead to train and motivate people with disabilities," he said, adding that success will depend on flexibility: flexible hours, workplaces and the appropriate state-of-the-art technology.
"If we can empower people to go to the moon, then certainly we can empower people with disabilities to be productive. The responsibility to keep the promise of ADA is yours and mine and everyone's."
Dart concluded his speech Friday night by saying, "We must unite in the spirit of (Mohandas) Ghandi, of Martin Luther King, in the power of love and truth and justice, to keep the promise . . . We cannot afford to fail, and we will not fail."