Essay
My bill, #HF2711, is a bill for an act relating to disability discrimination prohibited by programs receiving state financial assistance. This bill would help secure the rights of disabled people in the state and allow more opportunities for disabled people.
The bill states that programs or activities that receive state financial assistance cannot discriminate against people with disabilities that are otherwise qualified for the activity, such as if they have a service animal or a physical or mental disability that does not make it dangerous to participate in the activity. This bill protects the rights of people with disabilities to access all programs and activities receiving state financial assistance.
Each state agency that provides financial assistance to a program or activity shall be responsible for ensuring that said program or activity complies with the requirements of this section and adopt rules as necessary to ensure compliance.
This bill, #HF2711, protects these rights even if the protections from the human rights act, section 504 of the rehabilitation act, IDEA(Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and the ADA(Americans with Disabilities Act), etc., are modified, repealed, or reduced at a federal level. This means that even if these rights are taken away at a federal level they will still be effective in Minnesota.
I think you should vote for bill #HF2711 because it doubles down on the rights of disabled people in Minnesota, because even though we have federal protections, we can’t be certain what will happen on a federal level.