[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5859 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5859
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program to
provide grants to protection and advocacy systems to advocate for
individuals with disabilities to access transportation, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 29, 2023
Ms. Wilson of Florida (for herself, Mr. Molinaro, Mr. Johnson of
Georgia, Ms. Titus, Ms. Brownley, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Doggett, Ms.
Ross, Mr. Moulton, Ms. Norton, Ms. Tokuda, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Cohen, Mr.
Stanton, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Carson, and Mr. Schiff)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program to
provide grants to protection and advocacy systems to advocate for
individuals with disabilities to access transportation, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Transportation Assistance for
Individuals with Disabilities Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Transportation is significantly more difficult for
Americans with disabilities. According to the Bureau of
Transportation Statistics, 3.6 million Americans with travel-
limiting disabilities do not leave their homes because of a
lack of accessible transportation.
(2) According to the American Association of People with
Disabilities, people with disabilities are twice as likely to
struggle with procuring transportation than those who are not
disabled, which limits access to medical care, employment, and
everyday activities.
(3) The Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of
Rights Act of 2000 (in this section referred to as the ``DD
Act'') assures that ``individuals with developmental
disabilities and their families participate in the design of
and have access to needed community services, individualized
supports, and other forms of assistance that promote self-
determination, independence, productivity, and integration and
inclusion in all facets of community life''.
(4) The DD Act requires States and territories to establish
a protection and advocacy system that protects and advocates
the rights of individuals with disabilities.
(5) Even though the Americans with Disabilities Act
requires all State and local governments to make public
services accessible for people with disabilities, protection
and advocacy systems continuously receive reports of
ineffective and inadequate services from county and city
paratransit services. These systems work to address these
issues by providing legally based advocacy resources for those
impacted.
(6) In 2017, protection and advocacy systems received over
550 individual transportation related cases and in 2020
received over 2000 individual cases.
(7) Currently, there are 9 established protection and
advocacy programs administered by several Federal agencies,
including the Department of Education, the Department of Health
and Human Services, and the Social Security Administration.
(8) There is currently no similar program administered by
the Department of Transportation to ensure that protection and
advocacy systems have dedicated funding to serve individuals
who face issues related to transportation access.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF GRANT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO
TRANSPORTATION.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Transportation shall establish
a program to award grants to protection and advocacy systems to
advocate for individuals with disabilities to access transportation.
(b) Grants.--
(1) Award.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary
shall select 10 protection and advocacy systems to receive a
grant under this section.
(2) Grant term.--The term of a grant awarded under this
section shall be 5 fiscal years.
(3) Amount.--During the 5-year term of a grant awarded
under this section, the Secretary shall distribute $110,000 for
each fiscal year to the recipient of such grant.
(4) Carryover.--Any amount distributed under paragraph (3)
to a grant recipient for a fiscal year that remains unobligated
at the end of a such fiscal year shall remain available to such
recipient for obligation during the subsequent fiscal year.
(c) Sunset; Termination of Grants.--
(1) Sunset.--The authority of the Secretary to award grants
under this section shall terminate on the date that is 5 years
after the date of enactment of this Act.
(2) Termination of grants.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary may terminate a
grant awarded under this section before the end of the
grant term under subsection (b)(2) if the Secretary
determines there is good cause to terminate such grant,
including--
(i) misuse of grant funds; and
(ii) redesignation of the recipient of such
grant pursuant to section 143(a)(4) of the
Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill
of Rights Act of 2000.
(B) Award of new grant.--If the Secretary
terminates a grant under subparagraph (A), the
Secretary shall award a new grant under this section to
a different protection and advocacy system.
(d) Authority.--A protection and advocacy system that receives a
grant awarded under this section shall have the same authorities,
including access to records, as such system would have under subtitle C
of title I of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of
Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.).
(e) Selection.--In selecting the protection and advocacy systems to
receive grants under this section, the Secretary shall--
(1) select at least 3 protection and advocacy systems
located in States in which at least 1 persistent poverty county
(as defined by the Secretary of the Treasury) is located; and
(2) select at least 3 protection and advocacy systems that
are located in States in which--
(A) the percentage of individuals aged 65 or older
is greater than 18 percent; and
(B) the percentage of individuals with a disability
is greater than 16 percent.
(f) Reports.--Each recipient of a grant under this section shall
submit to an office designated by the Secretary an annual report
documenting the work such grant recipient has done to address the
barriers to accessing transportation for individuals with disabilities.
(g) Program Income.--Any income generated from advocating for
individuals with disabilities to access transportation with a grant
under this section for a fiscal year shall--
(1) remain available to the grant recipient until expended
and be considered an addition to the grant; and
(2) only be used to provide advocacy to enable individuals
with disabilities to access transportation.
(h) Training Grant.--
(1) In general.--During each fiscal year in which a
protection and advocacy system advocates for individuals with
disabilities to access transportation with a grant under this
section, the Secretary shall award a grant to 1 eligible
organization to provide training and technical assistance to
such protection and advocacy system.
(2) Grant amount.--Each grant awarded under paragraph (1)
shall be in the amount of $100,000.
(3) Eligible organization defined.--In this subsection, the
term ``eligible organization'' means a national organization
with extensive knowledge of protection and advocacy systems.
(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $1,200,000 for each
of fiscal years 2023 through 2028.
(j) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Protection and advocacy system.--The term ``protection
and advocacy system'' means a protection and advocacy system
established under subtitle C of title I of the Developmental
Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42
U.S.C. 15041 et seq.) that has--
(A) demonstrated monitoring experience; and
(B) demonstrated knowledge of accessibility
barriers facing individuals with disabilities in
accessing transportation.
(2) State.--The term ``State'' means the several States,
the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other
territory or possession of the United States.
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