ADA Amendments Act of 2008

A bill to restore the intent and protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

9/25/2008--Public Law. (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the House passed version is repeated here.) ADA Amendments Act of 2008 -
(Sec. 4) Amends the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) to redefine the term "disability," including by defining "major life activities" and "being regarded as having such an impairment." Sets forth rules of construction regarding the definition of "disability," including that:
(1) such term shall be construed in favor of broad coverage of individuals under the Act;
(2) an impairment that substantially limits one major life activity need not limit other major life activities in order to be a disability;
(3) an impairment that is episodic or in remission is a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active; and
(4) the determination of whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity shall be made without regard to the ameliorative effects of specified mitigating measures.
(Sec. 5) Prohibits employment discrimination against a qualified individual on the basis of disability. (Current law prohibits employment discrimination against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability.) Prohibits the use of qualification standards, employment tests, or other selection criteria based on an individual's uncorrected vision unless the standard, test, or other selection criteria, as used by the covered entity, is shown to be related to the position and is consistent with business necessity.
(Sec. 6) Declares that nothing in the Act:
(1) alters the standards for determining eligibility for benefits under state worker's compensation laws or under state and federal disability benefit programs;
(2) alters the requirement to make reasonable modifications in policies or procedures, unless such modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the goods, services, facilities, or accommodations involved; or
(3) provides the basis for a claim by an individual without a disability that the individual was subject to discrimination because of the individual's lack of disability. Declares that the authority of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations includes the authority to issue regulations implementing the definitions of this Act.
(Sec. 7) Makes conforming amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.


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Sponsor

• Sen. Thomas Harkin [D, IA]
• and 77 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. Lamar Alexander [R, TN]
  • Wayne Allard
  • Sen. John Barrasso [R, WY]
  • Sen. Max Baucus [D, MT]
  • Sen. Evan Bayh [D, IN]
  • Sen. Robert Bennett [R, UT]
  • Sen. Joseph Biden [D, DE]
  • Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA]
  • Sen. Sherrod Brown [D, OH]
  • Sen. Samuel Brownback [R, KS]
  • Sen. Richard Burr [R, NC]
  • Sen. Maria Cantwell [D, WA]
  • Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D, MD]
  • Sen. Thomas Carper [D, DE]
  • Sen. Robert Casey [D, PA]
  • Sen. Saxby Chambliss [R, GA]
  • Sen. Hillary Clinton [D, NY]
  • Sen. Thad Cochran [R, MS]
  • Norm Coleman
  • Sen. Susan Collins [R, ME]
  • Larry Craig
  • Sen. Michael Crapo [R, ID]
  • Sen. Christopher Dodd [D, CT]
  • Elizabeth Dole
  • Sen. Byron Dorgan [D, ND]
  • Sen. Richard Durbin [D, IL]
  • Sen. Michael Enzi [R, WY]
  • Sen. Russell Feingold [D, WI]
  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D, CA]
  • Sen. Charles Grassley [R, IA]
  • Sen. Judd Gregg [R, NH]
  • Sen. Orrin Hatch [R, UT]
  • Sen. Kay Hutchison [R, TX]
  • Sen. James Inhofe [R, OK]
  • Sen. Daniel Inouye [D, HI]
  • Sen. John Isakson [R, GA]
  • Sen. Tim Johnson [D, SD]
  • Sen. Edward Kennedy [D, MA]
  • Sen. John Kerry [D, MA]
  • Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D, MN]
  • Sen. Herbert Kohl [D, WI]
  • Sen. Mary Landrieu [D, LA]
  • Sen. Frank Lautenberg [D, NJ]
  • Sen. Patrick Leahy [D, VT]
  • Sen. Carl Levin [D, MI]
  • Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I, CT]
  • Sen. Blanche Lincoln [D, AR]
  • Sen. Richard Lugar [R, IN]
  • Sen. Mel Martinez [R, FL]
  • Sen. John McCain [R, AZ]
  • Sen. Claire McCaskill [D, MO]
  • Sen. Robert Menéndez [D, NJ]
  • Sen. Barbara Mikulski [D, MD]
  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R, AK]
  • Sen. Patty Murray [D, WA]
  • Sen. Bill Nelson [D, FL]
  • Barack Obama
  • Sen. Mark Pryor [D, AR]
  • Sen. John Reed [D, RI]
  • Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV]
  • Sen. Pat Roberts [R, KS]
  • Sen. John Rockefeller [D, WV]
  • Sen. Ken Salazar [D, CO]
  • Sen. Bernard Sanders [I, VT]
  • Sen. Charles Schumer [D, NY]
  • Gordon Smith
  • Sen. Olympia Snowe [R, ME]
  • Sen. Arlen Specter [D, PA]
  • Sen. Debbie Ann Stabenow [D, MI]
  • Ted Stevens
  • John Sununu
  • Sen. Jon Tester [D, MT]
  • Sen. John Thune [R, SD]
  • Sen. George Voinovich [R, OH]
  • John Warner
  • Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D, RI]
  • Sen. Ron Wyden [D, OR]
  close

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.3406

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

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Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		This Bill Has Become Law
July 31, 2008		September 11, 2008		September 17, 2008		September 25, 2008		September 25, 2008

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All Bill Actions

• Enacted on Sep 25, 2008. Became Public Law No: 110-325.
• Signed on Sep 25, 2008.
• Sep 23, 2008. Presented to President.
• Passed by voice vote in the House on Sep 17, 2008. On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
• Sep 17, 2008: Mr. Miller, George moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
• Sep 17, 2008: Considered under suspension of the rules.
• Sep 17, 2008: DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 3406.
• Sep 17, 2008. Cleared for White House.
• Sep 15, 2008: Held at the desk.
• Sep 15, 2008: Received in the House.
• Passed by Unanimous Consent in the Senate on Sep 11, 2008. Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
• Sep 11, 2008: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
• Added to calendar on Aug 01, 2008: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 927..
• Jul 31, 2008: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7956-7957)
• Jul 31, 2008: Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
• Introduced on Jul 31, 2008.

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Related Bills:

• H.R.3195

Related Issue Areas:

• Civil rights
• Actions and defenses
• Administrative procedure
• Blind
• 17 more
• Civil rights enforcement
• Congress
• Department of Justice
• Department of Transportation
• Disability evaluation
• Disabled
• Discrimination against the disabled
• Discrimination in employment
• Employee selection
• Employment of the disabled
• Employment tests
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Executive departments
• Labor
• Law
• Legislation
• Self-help devices for the disabled

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In the News

October 21, 2008 National Council on Disability Monthly Bulletin for September, 2008

On September 25, President George W. Bush signed into law the historic Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008 (S. 3406). ...

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Source: MarketWatch

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October 08, 2008 The ADA Amendments Act Of 2008 Expands The Protections Of The ...

President Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (S. 3406) into law on September 25, 2008. The bill was passed by the US Senate with unanimous consent ...

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October 08, 2008 Congress Expands Scope Of Federal Disability Discrimination Law

The bill (S. 3406) was approved by the US House of Representatives on September 17, 2008, after receiving unanimous approval in the Senate the previous week ...

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Blog Coverage

January 05, 2009 Congress Comes to the Rescue of Learning Disabled Students: Now ...

(See Congressional Record - Senate, September 16, 2008 Statement of Managers – S. 3406, page S8842). The Senate specifically stated the following when considering the condition, manner or duration in which an individual with a specific ...

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January 02, 2009 The Coachella Valley Desert Blog from Palm Springs to La Quinta ...

Discrimination S. 3406. Amendments to the ADA (eff. 1/1/09) The Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) expands the definition of a covered disability, and will likely subject employers to more requests for ...

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January 01, 2009 Wrapping Up the Review of the Top 10 Total Rewards Issues in 2008 ...

In September 2008, Congress amended the Americans with Disabilities Act by passing the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (S. 3406), which was then signed into law by the president. This is not expected to be as hot an issue in 2009, ...

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Source: Public Policy Perceptions by Cara Welch

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