BILL ANALYSIS
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES
Jim Beall Jr., Chair
ACR 162 (Beall) - As Introduced: April 19, 2010
SUBJECT : Disability History Week
SUMMARY : Designates the second week of October 2010, and
annually thereafter, as Disability History Week, and encourages
public and private institutions of higher education, state and
local agencies, nonprofit and community-based organizations, and
private businesses and corporations to observe Disability
History Week by dedicating appropriate classroom instructional
time or by coordinating all-inclusive activities to be conducted
during that week to afford opportunities for students and the
general public to learn more about the disability community and
to celebrate and honor its role in contemporary American
society. Specifically, this resolution makes the following
legislative findings:
1)People with disabilities are the largest minority group in the
United States, with a population of 54 million, including 6
million who live in California.
2)More than 678,105 public school students in kindergarten
through grade 12 have some type of disability.
3)During most of American history, people with physical,
psychiatric, sensory, and intellectual disabilities were
subjected to a shameful legacy of blatant discrimination and
mistreatment, including denial of access to medical and
psychological care, forced segregation in institutions,
involuntary sterilization, and denial of equal opportunities
in education, housing, and employment.
4)Most Californians and other Americans are unaware of the
significant contributions that people with disabilities have
made, are continuing to make, for the benefit of the nation
and the State.
5)Many students and others with disabilities do not have an
understanding of their history, including pioneering efforts
beginning in the 1900s to mid-1900s to enlighten society about
humane treatment of people with disabilities, or the emergence
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of the disability civil rights movement beginning in the
1970s.
6)Ed Roberts, former director of the Department of
Rehabilitation, was one of the primary founders of the
national disability rights and independent living movements
that began in Berkeley. His leadership and advocacy led to
the establishment of the first independent living center in
the nation in 1972, and, since then, California has been
acknowledged as a leader on issues affecting people with
disabilities and the Center for Independent Living model has
been replicated worldwide. He convinced the University of
California at Berkeley to establish a Disability Studies Minor
and to establish a Disability Oral History Museum. He and his
peers deserve special recognition because of the lasting
impact of the disability rights movement.
7)The early efforts of disability rights activist laid the
foundation for future federal and state laws, including
federal laws giving people with disabilities important civil
rights protections combating forced exclusion and segregation
in nursing facilities and state institutions, and giving them
access to training, services and supports necessary to live in
their own homes or other community living settings. Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act, added in 1973, prohibits
discrimination based on disability by federally funded
employers and other entities; the Federal Aid Highways Act
included funding for sidewalk curb cuts; and, in 1976,
Congress amended the Higher Education Act of 1972 to guarantee
equal educational opportunities for physically disabled
students.
8)The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
requires public schools to address the needs of pupils with
disabilities and develop Individualized Education Plans
(IEPs). Increasing teachers', pupils', and administrators'
understanding of the issues confronting the disability
community will enhance the quality and relevance of IEPs, and
will expand opportunities for pupils with disabilities.
9)Civil rights protests were an integral part of the disability
rights movement in California, including the largest organized
sit-in of a federal building in history--the 1977 takeover of
the federal Health, Education and Welfare building in San
Francisco to publicize the failure to implement administrative
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regulations for Section 504, resulting in the adoption of the
regulations.
10)The advocacy campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s led to
enactment of other federal laws, including the Developmentally
Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, the Education for
All Handicapped Children Act, the Fair Housing Amendments Act,
the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and handicapped Act,
and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
11)California has been a leader in furthering disability rights
with enactment of such pioneering legislation as the Disabled
Persons Act, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Fair Employment
and Housing Act, Section 11135 of the Government Code, the
Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, and the Lanterman Developmental
Disabilities Services Act.
12)The first annual Youth Leadership Forum for Students with
Disabilities (YLF) was founded in California in 1991 to give
youth with disabilities leadership skills and to teach them
about the history and culture of the disability community.
The YLF program has become a model program for disabled youth
and has been adopted in 35 other states.
13)Even today, long after enactment of state and federal laws
recognizing the civil rights of people with disabilities,
discrimination and exclusion continue. Two decades after the
enactment of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, the
vast majority of publicly and privately owned buildings and
facilities remain physically inaccessible, and more than two
decades after the enactment of the federal Fair Housing
Amendments Act of 1988, which prohibits discrimination in
housing based on disability, the unavailability of accessible
housing remains a major barrier to full community inclusion of
people with disabilities.
14)Disability history should also examine the United States
Supreme Court's landmark opinion in Olmstead v. L.C ., in which
the court ruled that unnecessary segregation and
institutionalization of people with disabilities is a form of
discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
15)Teaching all students about disability history will promote a
greater understanding between those with and without
disabilities and will lead to increased opportunities for
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interaction between students in special education and the
general student population, which will help form new
relationships between students with and without disabilities
to promote a common awareness and understanding of current
disability issues, and help motivate students to follow the
lead of prior disability rights activists.
16)Knowledge about disability history can help promote an
understanding of the importance of providing opportunities to
people with disabilities to develop and apply independent
living skills that are critical to personal success in
society. If individuals with and without disabilities learn
more about the struggle of the disability community, there
will be a greater willingness to accommodate everyone's needs,
and society will better appreciate the value to the entire
community of including people with disabilities in all aspects
of community life.
17)Universal knowledge about disability history will enhance the
recognition that employing people with disabilities benefits
businesses, employees, and the community.
18)The history of the disability community's civil rights
movement will further expand public awareness about all types
of disabilities, including those that are both apparent and
non-apparent, and a better informed society will benefit all
people with disabilities by helping them to use education as a
tool to reduce misunderstanding that leads to stigmatization,
hate crimes, and discrimination.
Every person with a disability is entitled to feel a sense of
pride about the history of the disability community, about their
role in their local community, and about themselves as
individuals with a disability. As people with and without
disabilities learn more about the history of disability, all
Californians will have a closer connection to the disability
community, which will ultimately contribute to a greater
appreciation of diversity in our state. Specifically, this
bill : >
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : The author and sponsor note that people with
disabilities--in California and throughout the U.S.--have a long
history of neglect, mistreatment, and exclusion. In the last
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part of the 20th century, however, the California Legislature
became recognized as a leader in addressing and correcting those
abuses, and Californians with disabilities played a major
leadership role in establishing the national disability rights
movement.
This resolution is part of a national youth-led movement, and is
the result of a drive launched in California by youth advocates.
It acknowledges the significant gains people with disabilities
have made in overcoming painful discrimination and exclusion
from our communities, and serves as a reminder that the fight
for equal access continues. A growing number of states are
taking the step of promoting understanding and awareness of
disability history and the disability rights movement by
designating a week each year to acknowledge the role and
contributions of people with disabilities in society.
The sponsor, California Foundation for Independent Living
Centers, says that this resolution "acknowledges the significant
gains people with disabilities have made in overcoming painful
discrimination and exclusion from our communities and serves as
a reminder that people with disabilities are still fighting for
equal access ... and inclusion." The author notes that "any
history of the fight for civil rights in America is incomplete
without including the struggles of people with disabilities for
equality. Their stories need to be told. People with
disabilities will not be fully accepted as equal, contributing
members of the community unless our children's education
promotes an understanding and awareness of disability history
and the disability rights movement.''
The resolution designates the second week in October of each
year as Disability History Week. It encourages schools, public
and private institutions of higher education, state and local
agencies, and private businesses to observe Disability History
Week by dedicating appropriate classroom instructional time or
by coordinating inclusive activities during the week to provide
opportunities for students and the general public to learn more
about the disability community and to celebrate and honor its
role in contemporary American society.
The timing of the resolution is noteworthy. July 26, 2010 marks
the 20th anniversary of the landmark federal civil rights law,
the Americans with Disabilities Act, and October, when
Disability History Week would be observed, is National
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Disability Employment Awareness Month.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC)
(sponsor)
California Association of Public Authorities for IHSS (CAPA)
Disabilities Rights California
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
Disabled Resources, Center Inc.
Independent Living Services of Northern California
LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Marin Center for Independent Living
National Multiple Sclerosis- CA Action Network (MS-CAN)
People First of California
Rolling Start, Inc., Resource Center for Independent Living
Silicon Valley Independent Living Center
The Arc of California
United Domestic Workers of America/AFSCME
1 individual
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Gelber / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089